Through the Filth and the Flames
by AthanMortis
Summary: The world hangs on the precipice. Corruption threatens to infect everything. As three new Bees awaken, someone unexpected steps in and alters the path of the struggle. Dark Days Are Coming. But Gaia laughs, for she has a wild card up her sleeve.
1. Recruitment Drives

**As always, none of this belongs to me. It's just a random idea I had and thought I'd explore. I highly recommend not suing because you wouldn't get anything out of it except lawyer bills. I will not be stating this again, because once should be enough.**

* * *

Cheon Chun Hei was having a nightmare. She was sure of it.

It began a week ago. She'd woken up after a strange nightmare of fighting monsters and solving odd riddles feeling lightheaded in her cozy apartment in Seoul and like she'd swallowed something odd along with the faint aftertaste of honey in her mouth.

When she'd gotten up and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, the door to her room slammed open with a small flash of light when she touched it. She'd jumped back, startled, and stared down at her hand, which had what looked like an ethereal flame coating it. She'd nearly screamed.

Things hadn't gotten better over the next few days. Her apartment was in shambles, and she didn't dare go outside. It had gotten to the point that she simply huddled on the ground, shaking and crying, wondering what she had done that the gods would curse her like this. It was only when she got desperate that she began to slowly control whatever was happening to her. Slowly she began to keep destructive outbursts of whatever power this was from affecting things as she tried to eat and bathe, though she wasn't entirely successful all the time.

Still, over time she managed to begin consciously manipulating whatever energy it was that now infused her, hoping for more control to keep it from making things worse. She'd formed a small shooting gallery of already broken knick knacks, managing to launch small bullets of energy at them. It tired her, but she persevered, driven in no small part by fear and a need to get her life back to normal.

Then, in the early morning hours there had been a knock on her door. Chun Hei rarely got visitors, not exactly being a social butterfly, so she'd tentatively opened the door.

In front of her, standing silently was a mu, a monk or shaman. His head was close cut, the only hair wiry stubble covering his head. He wore a thick green robe edged in black, and rope cord around his neck which reached his lower chest. She could see black tattoos trailing up his neck and along his lower jaw along with his hands from under his robe. However she barely noticed those things. What had her attention was the fact that _he had his lips sewn shut._

Chun Hei stepped back, eyes wide, the door silently opening fully, letting the mu see her fully. "W-who are you? W-what do you want?" She'd asked, somewhat panicked. Yes, she knew they were stupid questions, as he would not be able to answer, but she couldn't help it.

The mu walked into the room, steps sure, and gave her a small bow when he stopped before her. She swallowed as he began to raise his arm, finger outstretched, and stepped back. He pointed directly at the center of her forehead, and what seemed like a small bolt of static electricity escaped his finger and struck the area he was pointing at. Her world immediately went dark.

She'd awoken to the feeling of falling onto the wet ground, rain pelting her body. The sound of a car door closing came from behind her. Most likely where she had been thrown from. Then there was the sound of the vehicle speeding away.

So now there she was, slowly picking herself off of the floor, the front of her rather thin top soaked through, making her wish she'd worn a bra. She looked around to try and get her bearings to see where she'd been dumped.

It looked like an alley in another area of Seoul, most of the buildings short with slanted tile roofs. She glanced back at where the car had been only to stare. Where there should have been a street, there was only the brick wall of a dead end alley.

She stood, staring at the impossibility for a time, trying to comprehend it, before closing her eyes to center herself and turning back around. It seemed like there was only one way out of there. She moved forward, hoping to find some way back home.

Once out of the alley she looked around, trying to get a sense of where exactly she was. There didn't seem to be much indication as to her current location. She saw advertisements for a PC Bang along with other signage, but nothing that would tell her where she was.

She caught sight of something strange, however. A mass of small butterflies was whirling around by a car on the street directly in front of her. Considering the rain it was odd for so many to be out and about. She made her way forward to investigate, only for the butterflies to move away when she'd nearly reached them, stopping further down the street. It was like they were leading her to something.

"Well, not the oddest thing that has happened to me in the last week." Chun Hei murmured to herself, following along, hoping she would be led somewhere she could get help.

She was led around a corner and to the steps of one of the taller buildings, which bore a large glowing red sign stating it was the Kumiho Hotel. She hurried in as the butterflies scattered in all directions, happy to be out of the rain.

Gazing around, she found that there was a small lounge area in the lobby of the hotel. On a small stage a woman was swaying lightly to music, before she began to sing softly into a microphone to a couple of men seated nearby with the looks of music executives. Perhaps an audition.

Further away from the stage sat an older man in glasses looking through some papers, studying them intently. As there wasn't anybody behind the counter at the moment, Chun Hei moved towards him, hoping he might be able to help her. He looked up and nodded to her as she approached, unable to keep his eyes from dipping down to her chest very briefly before he went back to his papers. She suddenly remembered that her top was essentially see through, and quickly crossed her arms over her small breasts to keep her nipples from being visible as she resumed approaching, blushing slightly at the fact that the man had seen her that way.

At least he appeared to be more engrossed in his work than her. He was muttering to himself. "It's in here...somewhere. I've seen it. I've...I've seen..." He looked back up at her as she sat down nearby, and she was gratified that he at least had enough self-control to not try to catch another look, instead looking her in the eyes. "Are you, are you familiar with the butterfly effect? Hm?" He suddenly asked her before she could speak.

Chun Hei blinked, closing her mouth, wondering why he was asking her, of all people. Yes, she had heard of the butterfly effect, mostly in various media, but she didn't know anything deeper about it. She was, after all, going to university to study art. Not mathematics.

The man continued at her look of confusion, evidently believing the confusion was about the topic itself, not why he had brought it up to a complete stranger. "It asserts that just a tiny change in initial conditions can dramatically change the long term behavior of a system. Like a, like a butterfly's wings affecting the weather system, turning a light breeze into… into a tsunami." He made a soft sound of thought. She opened her mouth again to try to interrupt and ask her own question, but he kept going. "Most people take this to mean there's no way to predict or find patterns in a system so easily affected by tiny, random, seemingly insignificant events. But, but, chaos theory is not about chaos. It's about order. It's about finding the underlying order in apparently random data. Hm? In chaos. In other words, chaos isn't... eh… chaos isn't. There's always order. Always. That order... is what the Dragon chases, relentlessly."

"What?" Chun Hei blurted out, wondering what the man was rambling about now. The dragon? What dragon?

The man resumed his tirade, and she realized as he spoke that he'd been dying to speak about this to someone, anyone, and it was all coming out, his voice intense. "What they're doing is experimentation. They're testing the system. They're breeding butterflies so they can discern the patterns. The more random data they introduce to the system, the more data they get back. They're creating a model of the Universe, one tsunami at a time." He leaned back, looking back at his papers. "But this, this is a controlled experiment. So the Dragon ensures that with every, tiny, random change... They remain in complete control. They're ruthless planners and what they're doing... what they're planning is acts of..." He paused in thought, as though trying to figure out how to phrase it. "In a way, they are terrorists..." He didn't seem to notice her small start or the widening of her eyes at the word.

"Except their acts of terror are small, seemingly without consequence." He continued, as though trying to ease her nerves. "They don't blow up buildings or planes. They don't murder the innocent. They don't have a doctrine. What they are doing is a lot more subtle. A lot more, ah, effective. They have enough data in their models now to predict causality, at least to some degree. They put you somewhere, they have a good idea what's going to happen." He smiled at her lightly before continuing on slowly. "That's what it's all about, why you've been brought here, to this area of Seoul."

"How did you know that I was brought here?" She blurted out. Was he expecting her? Was he with those mu? Or with the Dragon he was talking about?

"It is obvious." He said, as though it truly was. "But I'm sure you're asking yourself, why me? Hm?" He shrugged as his voice turned serious. "It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters now, is that you've been brought here because they want you here. They need you here. Everything, from the moment they visited you until this conversation... it may seem like a series of coincidences. Random events." He began to laugh deeply, amused. "Carefully planned, part of a model they've designed. Part of a system. It's an experiment, don't you see? Everything has a purpose. Everything is true." He brought a cigarette she hadn't noticed to his lips, gazing at her intently. "Sooner or later, they all go upstairs."

Chun Hei swallowed and got up, moving away from the man. He gave a sardonic smile before turning back to his papers. She stood awkwardly in the lobby, trying to figure out what to do now. There still wasn't anybody behind the counter she could speak to, and the man had rattled her.

At least now she had an idea of how brought her here. That organization, the Dragon, wanted something from her. The question was, what did she do about it?

"They all go upstairs…" She murmured, wondering. If she went upstairs, would she find any answers? Answers about why she was brought here? She wasn't stupid, she knew that it most likely involved whatever power had turned her world upside down a week ago. That just worried her more.

In the end, she decided she couldn't just stand in the lobby in slowly drying clothes forever. She began to move towards the staircase leading up, hesitantly at first, and slowly made her way up the stairs.

She knew where to go as soon as she got to the second floor. The group of butterflies floating in front of an open door at the end of the hall might as well have been a neon sign. She made her way over only to be stopped when she reached the doorway by a large, muscled man with oddly ashen skin that blocked her way, looking menacing. He was dressed only in old style underwear that most wouldn't see in real life, which meant she could see the colorful tattoos on his arms and legs in all their glory.

"Um, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong room." She said softly, stepping away. She stopped when a breathtakingly beautiful woman in a red dress stepped up behind the man, her dark eyes gazing at Chun Hei speculatively.

The woman pressed her hand against the man's arm, making him step to the side. She then stepped forward and took Chun Hei's hand, her own silky soft, before gently pulling her into the room and leading her to the bed without any hesitation. She sat her down at the end of it, and Chun Hei just followed along, feeling anxious and wondering what was going on.

The woman moved back to the tattooed man and whispered something to him. He leaned over to glance at Chun Hei before moving out the door as the woman walked back into the room.

The woman looked at Chun Hei as she walked around to stand in front of her, making her self-conscious as she once again remembered that her clothes were wet and her breasts, small as they were, were on full display. She swallowed as the woman reached out to caress her cool cheek gently with her soft hand.

The woman smiled softly. "You're shy." She said as her hand drifted along Chun Hei's cheek before she let a finger lightly caress her lips, making the younger woman let out a soft sigh.

She'd long known she was at the very least attracted to girls, though she had never experimented with anybody. Then again, that was unsurprising considering she hadn't even kissed a boy yet either. So to have this gorgeous woman, so sensual and confident, act like this with her got straight through her defenses, compromised as they were by the recent worry and fear, making her take comfort in the simple touch of a woman she didn't know.

"Shy, confused, lost, mhm..." The woman continued, reading Chun Hei like a book. Then she walked towards the window, gazing outside, speaking as she walked. Chun Hei's gaze followed her, eyes briefly glancing down to take in an almost perfect rear. "You're not lost anymore. The Dragon found you."

Chun Hei's heartbeat sped up, now at the reminder of the fact that the Dragon wanted something from her. She opened her mouth to ask the woman why, but she was interrupted.

"And now... You've found me." The woman turned to look at Chun Hei. "Everything happens for a reason. Every event...no matter how small, has...consequences." She turned and walked back to her as she spoke. Then she set her hands on Chun Hei's cool shoulders and began to gently push her down back onto the bed. "They will ask you do things, and most of the time, you will not know why or what the consequences may be." She got on the bed and straddled Chun Hei, her dress riding up to reveal more of her sinfully perfect legs. "It is the curse of the Dragon. We do not know why we do what we do. But we do it regardless, because they tell us it is right." She began to slowly lean down as she spoke, Chun Hei's breath catching. "From chaos...there is order. Order, and clarity." She moved as though to kiss Chun Hei, and said girl could only whimper softly when the woman moved back when their lips were about to touch. "The one moment of absolute clarity from in that brief exhalation of ecstasy. When our minds are empty, we are receptive to the truth." The woman moved close again, moving to the side of Chun Hei's head, acting like she was about to kiss her neck, but moving back at the last moment once again. "Most of the time, you will not understand their reasons." She did the same thing to the other side of her neck. "You will not be able to see the consequences of your actions. But there is one event you must understand...one truth." She'd moved so her lips were just an inch from the dip between Chun Hei's breasts, making the girl shiver at the feel of her hot breath. "It's my job to help you see it."

The woman proceeded to move down Chun Hei's body, her hands reaching to move the short, lightly tattered skirt she usually wore around the house up over her hips, exposing her panty clad sex. The woman gazed up at her, briefly, and Chun Hei once again forgot how to breathe. As the woman slowly peeled the underwear down, exposing her neatly trimmed patch of black pubic hair and puffy lips, Chun Hei tried to speak. Things were going too fast, her mind was whirling and lost in confusion and anxiety, but something kept her quiet and still even as her heart thundered in her chest. Then the woman's lips touched her most intimate place, and Chun Hei's thoughts lost all coherence. Sensations she'd never felt before struck her body, making her lose herself in the feeling.

It seemed to last an eternity. Her hands were fisting the sheets of the bed hard as she tried to hold the oncoming explosion back. Eventually, however, she finally lost control and fell over the edge.

And just as the woman had said, in the instant between her mind going blank from pleasure and the return of lucidity, it happened. Her eyes snapped open.

And she Saw…

* * *

Elizabeth McClane had been having a weird week.

Liz, as she preferred to be known, had woken up one night after a strange dream involving killing monsters with an assault rifle to a sore throat and the odd taste of honey in her mouth. Deciding to get some medicine she'd reached for her light robe to put over her nude body only for it to suddenly catch fire, the flames an odd white and blue, making her yelp and fall off the bed.

Even as she watched, the robe crumbled into ash, and when it did the flame dissipated. Nothing else had been affected by the fire, and the only evidence it had ever happened was the small pile of ash on the ground.

That wasn't the only incident to happen. By the third day after the event it became pretty clear that whatever was happening was real, and was wrecking her freaking apartment! She was a small time model trying to make it big in New York, she didn't have the time or money for this bullshit!

As it was, she had to stay in her home and subsist off of takeout. She couldn't risk suddenly freezing a cab or something. The time she'd burned some of her money to a crisp when she'd tried to pay for the Chinese she'd ordered was bad enough.

Slowly but surely, however, she managed to gain control of whatever this was. She'd gotten to the point that she was juggling orbs of energy, and she was no longer destroying everything in sight. She actually felt she could go back out into the city soon.

Of course, that was when things went wrong again.

It began with a knock on the door. She'd hastily put something on (so she liked to be naked in her apartment. Sue her!) and opened the door slightly to find some random man outside. He was a sleazy looking guy in a rumpled but expensive looking suit and sunglasses, with short, messy hair. He grinned sardonically before whistling when he saw the damage she hadn't gotten around to cleaning up.

"Somebody's been bad. I approve. Mind if I come in?" He said as he pushed past her into the apartment.

"What the fu-?" Liz began.

"Time is ticking so I'll cut straight to the chase." The man said quickly, cutting her off. "I work in talent acquisition, specializing in a highly unconventional sector for a very particular client. And they're particularly interested in your kind of talent." He glanced around again. "Fucking stuff up... putting it back together. Altering the fabric of space and time. Basic thaumaturgy. My client is only interested in the best of the best." He grinned. "That's where I come in."

Liz felt her stomach fall to the floor. Somebody knew what she could do, and she could recognize a sleazy talent shark a mile away. He looked like exactly the type to try to make her sleep with him for an 'opportunity'. This was bad.

"Your talent is raw, but it's... obvious." He said, looking around at the still messed up apartment once again. "My client has the means to refine that talent and make the most of what you've got, and I'm not talking about money." He paused before continuing with a light smirk. "Well, not just money."

In spite of herself, Liz felt some interest at that. After all, one of the reasons she'd worked so hard to become a model was to make sure she'd never go hungry again. This could be an opportunity.

She wasn't going to be stupid about it, though.

The talent shark continued. "Protection. Power. The best parties in the biz." He said, apparently reading her interest. "We're prepared to give you a unique opportunity. A chance to prove you've got what it takes to hang with the big boys and girls. To rule the world." He said rather grandiosely. "It's up to you to grab that opportunity by the balls." He grinned, making a fist.

Once again, Liz felt the stirrings of interest. This could be exactly what she'd always wanted. A chance to be big, and secure. To be somebody.

"Based on what I've seen so far, you might be what I'm looking for. Or..." He leaned forward and looked at her over his glasses. "You might end up dead."

And now the fear was back. It was obvious these people played for keeps. They wanted her, and they had both large carrots and even larger sticks.

"Time will tell. Tick..." He snapped his fingers. "…Tock. You have an appointment tomorrow in Brooklyn that I'd recommend you keep." He handed her a card with nothing on it but a blue symbol. "There's no address. Consider this the commencement of your official interview. Find us." He began to make his way out of the apartment. "Or we'll find you. My client has...eyes everywhere. Don't be stupid." He snapped his fingers again with a smirk and a wink. "Later, gator!"

And he left her standing, afraid and alone, in her apartment.

So now she was walking up the stairs out of the subway in Brooklyn, trying to figure out where she had to go. For obvious reasons, she was determined that she wouldn't miss her appointment with whatever group had contacted her. She glanced down at her only clue, seeing the image of the blue pyramid with a circle in the middle on the card she'd been given.

She walked for a bit, looking around for anything that might give her an indication on where to go. As she was walking by a laundromat she glanced down to find a stack of magazines with the title 'Weird Non-Fiction'. What caught her eye was a small image of the symbol on the card, alongside the statement 'Illuminati Replace Porn Star With Body Double'. Which was utterly ridiculous. Why a porn star? More importantly…

"The Illuminati? Seriously?" She asked herself. Then she shrugged lightly with a sigh. If magic was obviously real, then who was to say the Illuminati weren't?

Debating with herself briefly she finally walked into the laundromat to see if the owner knew anything about the magazines and the Illuminati. She didn't really expect much, though.

Seeing nobody in the first room but a couple of customers, she moved into the back room full of dryers to find a stocky man standing in front of a desk, looking through papers full of odd pictures. Off to the side, seated on one of the dryers, was an attractive brunette with short hair and glasses working on a laptop.

"Uh, excuse me. I wondered if you could help me with something…" Liz began.

"No, no, no... too much visibility on the street." He said after turning to see her and motioning her away from the doorway, his voice shaky and erratic, like he'd had one coffee too many. "They're listening, they're always listening. That's why I keep the dryers running 24/7. They bugged my phones, read my mail... They have this place on CCTV... Replaced my girlfriend with an android!" He whispered, motioning to the brunette, who glanced up at them.

Liz's eye twitched and she considered beginning to slowly back away. "Okay… This was clearly a mistake…" She whispered to herself.

The man didn't seem to notice. "The Illuminati. I know you know, and they know I know. You know?" He let out a short, chortling laugh. "Oh, you're wondering why they haven't disappeared me, shut down my magazine?"

No, that was most definitely not what she was wondering.

"It's 'cause I play smart. I play along. It's a game to them, you know, it's all just a game!" He said with a smirk.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Liz turned around to find another good looking brunette in glasses, this one with long hair, holding a camera she'd just used to take a picture of them. Liz felt herself tense.

"Oh, hi, h-hi, Leah." The man said to the woman as she turned and left after giving him a wave. He turned back to Liz. "Don't worry, sh-she-she's not one of Them. She's in my D&D group." Liz felt her eye twitch once again. The guy didn't seem to notice, as he continued his explanation/rant. "Roleplaying is the only avenue to resist control!" Another twitch, ignored as he began pacing. "We do nothing, nothing, they don't tell us to. They've been conditioning us in-i-i-in every kind of media for years, OK? Example: Pac-Man."

Oh for fuck's sake…

"That's how they see you, ju-ju-ju-just a little head, just a mindshare. And you run through the mazes, the mazes they built, sucking down their pills - the fruit, the forbidden wisdom of Eden, never enough - and you can't shake the fuckin' ghosts, right? I mean, they're watching you, their eyes are always watching you, even beyond death!"

Liz truly felt like reaching out and strangling the man.

"This all adds up! That's where you'll find the Illuminati, at the dark centre. In the ghost house. In the Labyrinth. It's right here! Just-just follow the yellow dot road." Another slightly deranged laugh. "That's all I can say." He turned away from her, and went back to his pictures.

Liz took a couple of deep breaths to get herself under control after enduring that gigantic waste of time.

…Nope, still pissed.

She turned around to head out in order to keep from punching the lunatic. She took a single step before something caught her eye. "No way…" She whispered as she saw a dim yellow light in a corner, hidden by a stack of newspapers that looked like they hadn't been touched since the first George Bush was in office.

Glancing back to make sure the other two weren't paying attention she moved over and shifted the papers just enough to make out a small video camera pointed at the nut's desk. Was it his?

She quickly left the laundromat and looked around, spotting another camera nearby, pointed at the entrance she was standing in. It, too, had a dim yellow light on.

"You're kidding, right? I really need to follow the yellow dots?" She moved towards the camera and looked for another, finding it after a bit of searching.

So it went, following the trail of cameras for the next ten minutes like freaking breadcrumbs. It was aggravating, but she finally found what appeared to be her destination.

It was an abandoned building with an open door to a stairway. The only thing that indicated that it was what she was looking for was the same symbol as on the card above the door, painted in graffiti. She stepped in and, since the stairs going up were blocked, made her way downstairs.

The area she found herself in seemed to be a bit of a maze, which several homeless people were making their own. She found herself wandering the place, ending up in dead ends several times till she noticed a grafittied image of a hand holding a blue eye that appeared to point at the correct doorways. Then she began to make some progress. Eventually she reached what appeared to be the entrance to a large, concrete bunker with the blue pyramid painted just beyond the doorless entryway.

She took a deep breath before walking in, her heart beginning to pound in her chest due to her nerves. Behind the wall with the painted pyramid was a checkpoint with an illuminated doorway surrounded by dark glass. Beyond it she could see two guards in blue uniforms, wearing gasmasks and holding mean looking assault rifles. She swallowed and stepped through the doorway.

An alarm began to sound loudly as soon as she stepped through and opened her mouth to greet the guards, and suddenly she blacked out. "Oh shi-" She managed to get out as she fell.

She heard a woman's voice speak. "You know the drill, run them through Due Diligence."

A man's voice responded. "I'm on it. And please, no head trauma!"

Her senses came back enough at one point that she could tell she was being dragged along the floor, and when she looked she saw that it was the two guards, each holding an arm and pulling her along.

One of them spoke. "Someone ping Cassini to shut the fucking alarm off."

Liz tried to regain her senses, but failed, and as she faded again she heard the male voice from before ask the guards. "Say, have you ever seen a person void themselves from exposure to pink noise?"

When she finally came to it was to find herself strapped to a sort of medical bed, and not in the way she'd usually enjoy, while a man with the look of a mad scientist, crazy hair and all, was preparing a needle full of something she was pretty damn sure she didn't want anywhere near her.

The scientist, noticing she was awake, looked down at her and spoke, revealing himself as the one she'd heard before talking about pink noise. "Hi. Have you ever seen a psychiatrist or taken psychedelic drugs?"

Liz, of course, promptly began to struggle.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't freak out." The doctor said, backing away on his chair in surprise. "You've got a lot of narcosynthetics in your system. To fast-track the rapport process." He made calming motions, though they were hindered by the _giant fucking needle_ he was still holding. He continued talking, apparently trying to get her to stop struggling. "So, make yourself comfortable, before you lose motor function in your arms and legs."

She paused in her struggles and glared at him. She tried to open her mouth to say something must likely extremely violent, but found for some reason that she couldn't speak. Her mouth seemed stuck shut, so all she could do was make an angry noise.

The doctor didn't seem to notice, leaning back into her field of view. He held up the needle and motioned to it. "'Is it safe?'" He began laughing like he heard something hilarious. Taking this as a bad sign, Liz resumed her struggles. The doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Ha, no. I'm just fucking with you. I'm a researcher." He began to explain. "An experimental researcher-"

He was interrupted by a familiar woman's voice coming from the computer on the nearby desk. "Zurn, my schedule is triple-booked, so get started ten minutes ago."

The doctor, Zurn, wheeled himself over to the computer and spoke to it. "Yes, ma'am, Ms Geary!" He turned to Liz and rolled his eyes slightly. "Management."

Ms Geary spoke again, faux clearing her throat. "Ahem, still here."

Zurn quickly shut off the computer. "Shit. Knew that." He gave a nervous laugh. "Wow. Illuminati, always there." He wheeled back over to Liz's bound form. "Okay, today we're going to be provoking your extrahuman potential. Routine tests, psychic driving, invasive procedures, autosuggestion. This is all going to happen while you're under a post-hypnosis roleplaying scenario. …I wouldn't worry about it." He finished with a shrug.

Liz stared at him. The hell? She'd understood maybe half of what he just said, and she wasn't even really sure about the other half. One thing she did do, of course, was worry.

"I'm going to play you a looped recording of the catastrophe in Tokyo." He said. Liz started, wondering why he was going to play something like that. Yes, it was a huge event, a terrorist group setting off a huge bomb of something that meant that the entire district of Kaidan in Tokyo had to be quarantined. Was he implying that was a supernatural event?

Zurn continued talking. "And then, with a little..." He took a hit from an inhaler. "…chemical assistance, your uninhibited neurons are going to work their..." He waved his hands over her form. "…crazy magic."

As he spoke, she felt the effect of whatever drugs he'd pumped into her system take hold, her eyesight fading again even though she kept her eyes wide open.

"I won't lie to you." She vaguely heard Zurn say. "This is going to be an _intense_ out-of-body experience. Wow! I'm pretty excited myself." He sight faded almost completely, her last sight Zurn's hand waving in front of her face to test her perception. The last thing she heard before her consciousness faded completely was Zurn saying. "And… subject has… left the building."

And she Saw…

* * *

Amanda Hall was having the time of her bloody life!

It all began when she got super powers like something out of a comic book a week before. She'd been having an amazing dream about being an adventurer, going into Egyptian tombs and fighting zombies in cemeteries. When she woke up, she could vaguely taste honey in her mouth, which was weird.

She'd gotten up and headed to take a shower when a beam of light suddenly left her hand as she was grabbing her towel, cutting it to ribbons. She'd stood, staring in shock for the longest time, before she slowly began to grin.

It took quite a bit of experimenting, and her expensive London flat ended up looking like she'd invited a bunch of football hooligans over for a party, but she'd eagerly managed to do a bunch of different things with her new powers, from the cutting trick to using them as bullets to electric attacks. None of it was very strong, but she knew she'd get better. And then she could go out and put them to use. The thought made her giddy.

She was finally making her way to her computer to check on any jobs to do for the first time since she woke up with her powers when there was a knock on the door. Curious and wondering who'd be visiting her at that time of night, she moved over to open it, finding a tall woman with brown shoulder length hair in the hallway. She had an ornate cross on a necklace hanging from her neck, drawing Amanda's eyes briefly.

The woman casually opened the door all the way as she spoke. "Good afternoon. Are you…?" She walked in brazenly as Amanda gawked at her and looked around the room, which Amanda had only lightly cleaned up. "From the look of things, I guess that question is moot. Bee problem? There's a lot of that going around."

"Uh, what? I don't…" What did bees have to do with anything?

The woman turned back to Amanda. "I represent an organization headquartered in London. A very large organization with branches across the globe and connections in every government." She explained quickly but surely. "Although we see ourselves as a…" She tilted her head in thought momentarily before continuing. "A silent partner. We pull strings. Big strings. Prime ministers, presidents, kings…" She took a few steps toward Amanda, whose heart was beating harder than usual.

Was this woman implying she worked for some sort of, of secret society? She knew she got powers out of a comic book, but somebody already wanted to recruit her?

"Dark days are coming." The woman said seriously, eyes hard as she looked into Amanda's brown orbs. "The world is in turmoil and we're recruiting. Soldiers, agents, adventurers… crusaders. And we offer good terms." She said, continuing her pitch. "A fresh start, a network unlike any other, unlimited resources, a fantastic medical plan… And a way to harness and use your incredible powers."

Amanda swallowed lightly. A way to not only be stronger, but to also be a hero like out of her comic books? It seemed too good to be true. What about the life she already had?

The woman studied her briefly before continuing, seeming to read her thoughts. "It may be a big transition, but look at it this way: This is a unique opportunity. You, have been chosen." She said, lightly tapping a fingertip against Amanda's chest. "You have been granted powers beyond what most can imagine. So you can either be an outcast in a world that will never understand or accept what you've become, or you can join _others like you_."

Amanda started at that. She wasn't sure why she hadn't considered that there were others with her brand of powers, but it was obvious there would be if there was an organization that knew to recruit her and had an almost perfect pitch set up.

The woman continued speaking, voice passionate, yet controlled, as she paced slightly into the flat, facing away from Amanda. "Take a stand against the rising darkness. And embark on a journey into the unknown, into the hidden places." She turned her gaze to gaze at Amanda. "Into the Secret World."

She turned back towards the still open door and began to walk towards it. "The choice, as we're so fond of saying, is entirely yours. But know this." She paused in front of the younger woman. "Your emerging powers will attract plenty of attention." Amanda felt a thrill of terror at that. "And not everybody is as, um, as accommodating as we are." She looked at Amanda in the eyes again, underscoring the seriousness of her words. "On your own, you'll be easy prey. You might not last a week." Amanda swallowed heavily.

The woman took a letter out of her pocket and handed it to Amanda. "This will get you where you need to go. There are instructions inside. Use it, don't use it, it's your prerogative. You won't see me again." She stepped toward the door and turned to gaze at her. "I trust you'll make the right decision." She walked out into the hall and began to leave before suddenly pausing, turning back to Amanda. "By the way, our organization is called the Templars. You may have heard of us." She smiled slightly. "We've been around a while." She finished slightly sardonically. "Good day." And she was gone.

Amanda stood in her flat, mind whirling, and look down at the letter, which was sealed with an image of a white cross on a red background.

So now she found herself, after a sleepless night thinking, walking into the Ealdwic district of London, a place she'd never been. She felt anxious, but also anticipatory. She was seemingly leaving her old life behind, but had a chance for something… amazing. And she was going to seize the moment with both hands.

She approached a police barricade that was blocking the way into Ealdwic proper. She'd seen them around as she'd walked through London. The attack in Tokyo had everybody scared.

The bobbies noticed her and one held up a hand to stop her. "Sorry, can't let you through without authorization."

Amanda pulled the letter out of her pocket and held it up. "Um, I have this, I was invi-"

The other cop cut her off. "I don't know what that's supposed to be, but it's not-"

A woman was the one to interrupt this time, stepping forward and holding up a badge in their faces. "Alright lads, D.I. Shelley, she's with me." She pulled Amanda aside and through the barricade before she began to speak again. "Do us both a favour and don't go flashing that letter around out here. The boys on the cordons haven't been briefed. As far as they're concerned, this is all just 'heightened awareness' after the terrorist attack in Tokyo." She paused and looked Amanda over before setting her hands on her hips. "But I don't deal with the bureaucracy, I deal with the truth. About the secret London. About the Templars. I'd say, 'I hope you know what you're getting yourself into...'" She shook her head ruefully. "But you have no idea." She continued in a quieter voice. "Even I only get as involved as I have to, for the sake of us little people."

The inspector paced away from Amanda, towards the barricades, before speaking louder. Sounding somewhat angry. "You've seen it on the news? The Tokyo incident?" Amanda nodded quietly. "That's what happens when the new crowd lets things get out of hand." Shelley turned back to Amanda, a finger raised for emphasis as she spoke vehemently. "Not here, not on my watch. That's the deal. That's always been the deal." She was silent for a moment before sighing and motioning her away. "You'll be safe inside Ealdwic. Go see one of the prophets prophesying up the road, by the tube station. They'll fill you in on the crazy you've got ahead of you. Best be prepared." She began to walk away before offering a parting shot. "My sincerest condolences!"

Amanda stared after the DI before sighing. "Great…" She muttered.

So Tokyo was a supernatural event then? She hadn't seen anything about that on the internet. Then again, she obviously didn't know the correct sites to go to. She'd need to see if she could get dark web addresses from whoever she was meeting with.

Sighing once again she began walking deeper into Ealdwic, passing a theater called the Albion and the tube station, searching for one of the 'prophets' Shelley had mentioned, hoping she'd get some information as promised.

Eventually she found a small crowd gathered around a man in a very odd, colorful outfit standing on a box with… a hand puppet of a king on his hand? She approached, curious, as the puppet began to 'speak'.

"Too late to start recycling! Hehe!" It 'said' in a high pitched, cartoony voice. "To go to raves to save the gorillas! To cash out those Anansi shares! There's a storm coming, mondo storm. Paint your glass houses shut!"

Now the man himself began to speak, hand to mouth like he was sharing a secret. "You don't have to take his word for it." He resumed speaking normally. Or at least, semi-normally. "This is a warning from the sun. It says it's old and tired and scared of death." He pointed at the crowd, voice turning harsh. "It says you've lived as young gods for too long! Spoilt children who only need to wish for something and it'll come true!" His voice shifted to mocking. "Well, those days are gone now and won't come here again!" He laughed, the sound dark. "Sorry! I'll show you how it all goes down, through the medium of unreliable narration. A vision of the future. This could be your lucky day! Tomorrow and all the ones after...not so much." He finished a bit more quietly.

Amanda felt a pressure begin behind her eyes and shook her head. Just what she needed, a headache.

"It's a hot, wet day." The man began his tale. "You ever notice how the apocalypse always comes on a wet day? There's the smell of warm air and stale piss."

She swayed slightly, vision swimming.

"The atmosphere is electric. I mean actually electric, sparking off the tracks, lifting and snapping your hair."

She felt itching in the back of her neck, and she reached back to rub it even as she continued swaying, gaze fading in and out. "Wha…?" She whispered.

"A voice over the speakers that you don't hear, you itch. The black signal sounds..."

Amanda finally couldn't take anymore, and felt herself collapse to the hard ground. As her gaze faded completely into darkness, she heard the 'prophet' say. "Lights out."

And she Saw…

* * *

 ** _Welcome, one and all, to my latest fic._**

 ** _I can already hear you saying "WTF? Why are you starting another one instead of continuing your six others!?"_**

 ** _To which I say: I write what I feel like. Sorry, but not sorry._**

 ** _So, this is the first ever (as far as I can tell) crossover between Ranma ½ and The Secret World. I've always been a fan of Ranma, and have played TSW since beta, having a lifetime subscription that continues to this day with the new version of the game._**

 ** _I love the universe of the Secret World. I fell in love with the smart, Lovecraftian story, and the rich lore that you have to piece together yourself. It's not a game that holds your hand as much as others, as demonstrated by the Investigation missions, which really test your brainpower. I highly recommend it to those who haven't played it, especially now that it's F2P without too much bullshit._**

 ** _For those curious, my main is a Dragon._**

 ** _Now, to the story itself. Those familiar with TSW will recognize this as the introductions to each faction of the game till the Flashback. I promise that the characters will have more to say going forward. They'll be chatterboxes for sure. There's just no reason to change much about the beginning. A big change will occur soon with the introduction of the Ranma element, which will be in chapter 3. In the meantime, consider the beginning a pseudo novelization._**

 ** _As it is, I hope I've been able to show the different girls' characters well._**

 ** _Chun Hei is reluctant to get involved, being the type to want a nice, normal life. Not that the Dragon will give her much choice._**

 ** _Liz is pissed off at her personal plans being derailed. But that spark of greed and ambition will make her a decent fit for the Illuminati, who can give her some of what she wants._**

 ** _Amanda is eager. She's the type that would fit in in the worlds of Marvel and DC, eager to become a hero when she gets powers. Of course, it won't be all it's cracked up to be. Something you'd hope she'd be aware of as a comic book buff._**

 ** _Next chapter will be the Flashback. After that will come the rest of the faction introductions and the reveal of the Ranma element of this story. Then things will get interesting._**

 ** _To those who don't know much about the Secret World, I hope this story serves as an introduction to this game and makes you interested in trying it out. To those who do, I hope you consider it an entertaining romp through this world._**

 ** _Enjoy, and please review._**


	2. Ground Zero

**Two Weeks Ago…**

Slowly, she felt her consciousness returning to her. She first felt the hard, concrete floor she lay on. Then the scent of dust and something else, something unknown, registered to her nose. Finally the voices came.

"-all shut down, Kaidan-cho, everything, from the park to Orochi Tower…" A female voice said, sounding rather grim.

Another female voice spoke in response. "SDF quarantine. Good news for Tokyo, bad news for us."

Another voice, male this time, dry and sarcastic, came next. "I thought the Dragon thrived on chaos?"

"Someone once told me the Illuminati had all the answers." The second voice responded in the same tone.

The first voice spoke up now, interrupting them. "They're saying a bomb. It's _never_ just a bomb."

"Something worse, something that brought the Filth with it." Voice number two said, sounding slightly anxious.

She began getting up, groaning softly, the back of her head throbbing lightly.

The voices didn't notice, continuing their conversation. The first voice spoke with a quiet intensity now. "So we fight. That's what us Templars do."

She'd finally gotten to her feet, shaking her head slightly as she gathered her wits.

The man spoke next, voice wry, not having noticed her. "I enjoy a good fight, it's just these trousers are bloody velvet..."

He was interrupted when the owner of the second voice, an Asian woman, finally noticed she was on her feet. "Sarah! Thank Gaia…"

Sarah focused on her surroundings and her three companions.

The first, the one who had spoken to her, was Mei Ling. She was an attractive Chinese woman in her mid-twenties. Her black hair was tied off in a high ponytail, bangs obscuring her face slightly, and large gray headphones were on her head and covering her ears. She was very slim, and wore a tight reddish orange top with orange graffiti on it whose sleeves bared her tattooed shoulders and arms, and which also bared much of her midriff, exposing more tattoos. Her pants were low and tight on her hips, with large pockets, loosening to be slightly baggy below her knees. On her feet she wore blue and white tennis shoes. She had a long katana strapped to her waist.

The other woman was Rose White, a pretty American in her early twenties. She had platinum blond hair that appeared practically white, which fell to almost entirely cover her left eye from under a white wool beanie. She wore a white, long sleeved sweater of the same material under a red, hooded vest which, while fairly tight on her, hid the fact that she was toned and muscular. Around her neck she wore a red scarf, and blue jeans covered her legs, ending in blue Converse. She had a dangerous looking shotgun strapped to her back.

The last person was Alex McCall. He was British, in his late thirties. His dark hair was a mass of messy spikes, which looked as unkempt as the rest of him. He wore a white button up shirt, half tucked into his light blue velvet trousers, a wrinkled red sweater over it and a light brown trench coat over that. His look was finished by a pair of black boots. He had no apparent weapon on him.

Sarah looked around, trying to get her bearings before she spoke to the others. She was in a dim subway station entrance, a security gate closing off the access to the rest of the subway. It was dirty and grimy, a bit of an oddity in a Tokyo subway, but that wasn't the most eye catching thing.

Tendrils of some black, oily substance ran along the floor and trailed up the walls like ivy, black pods of the substance bulging from the bodies of the tendrils in place of leaves. One could almost be forgiven for mistaking it as crude oil, but it looked just slightly wrong. And it smelled wrong. And it seemed to suck in the heat. It was, in and of itself, simply _wrong_. Something that had no right to exist.

"Are you okay?" Mei Ling asked. "How are you feeling?"

Sarah blinked and sighed, gingerly touching the back of her head through her dark, curly hair. "Like something bashed me in the head." She said, her Cairo accent stronger than usual due to her residual disorientation. She glanced back around at the room they were in. Now that she was paying attention, she could hear the noise of people shouting further into the subway. "What happened? How in the name of all that is holy is there so much Filth here?"

Rose grimaced. "Something went off. An occult weapon or something. What you're seeing now is the result. It's everywhere. And it's infected a lot of people already."

Sarah's brow furrowed. "What could do that?"

"Does it look like we know?" Alex asked caustically. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and brought it to his lips before he ignited it with a small burst of anima. "One moment we're on the tail of those arseholes we were called in about, the next…"

Mei Ling shook her head. "Now's not the time for this. We need to get through here and figure out what's going on and find Zuberi. This is… way too big for us to do anything else." Sarah and the others nodded in agreement. This was probably the biggest supernatural event of the last century just from what they knew.

"Sarah." Rose said, motioning to a chair a few feet away. "We put your weapons over here. Grab them just in case."

Realizing that she was indeed unarmed, Sarah quickly made her way over to the chair, where her twin kodachi and her backup revolver lay. She hurriedly gathered them up, equipping herself, before turning back to the others. It was only once she'd done so that what Mei Ling said registered and she realized somebody was missing. "Wait, where _is_ Zuberi?"

"Somewhere down there." Rose said softly, indicating to the entrance to the subway.

Before they could say anything else a woman suddenly appeared behind the gate, slamming into and clawing at it desperately. "Open the gate!" She screamed in Japanese, tears of fear in her eyes.

Mei Ling immediately jumped to the controls. "I'm trying!" She yelled as she frantically worked. "It's inside the electronics somehow. The Filth-" She was interrupted when a couple of figures, making inhuman noises and moving erratically, jumped the desperate woman and killed her with a couple of blows, making the four flinch.

"No!" Rose cried.

"Fuck me…" Was Alex's muttered contribution.

Sarah was frozen, staring, as Mei Ling spoke slowly, shocked by the sudden brutality. "Oh… my… God…"

The figures moved away from the corpse of the woman, and soon the group heard them moving through the large vents in the walls. They all prepared for battle, Mei Ling's tattoos lighting up orange as she drew her sword, Rose unslung her shotgun, Sarah drew both kodachi and took a dual wielding stance, and Alex took a stance with his legs spread and bent with his arms out at his sides, energy appearing in his cupped hands.

Soon the first of their enemies jumped out of the vents. He might have once been a normal salaryman, but now his clothes were stained black with Filth, and all his skin was the same pitch black as the unnatural substance, leaving only glowing yellow eyes. Most prominent were the tentacles of black sludge that waved from various parts of his body, including his head.

He screamed, an inhuman shriek of mad rage, and launched himself at them. Equilibrium regained, Sarah darted in and started slicing at the monster, making it fall dead from its wounds in seconds.

"Nice work!" Rose said, but then they heard what sounded like a herd of more of them, screeching in rage.

"How many have they got in there?" Alex asked angrily.

As more appeared, moving to attack, Mei Ling spoke as she sliced one in half. "It's gone viral so fast… If this gets out into Tokyo…"

"It doesn't!" Rose said with determination as she blew one's head off with a blast of her shotgun, while Alex slammed a couple of fireballs into another. "We stop it here. Whatever it takes."

The foursome fought the continued waves of enemies which poured from the vents, shrieking horribly. Finally, after it seemed like forever but was most likely only a couple of minutes, the last one of the couple of dozen that attacked fell.

They all took a moment to catch their breath before Mei Ling moved to open the gate, finally managing it with a bit of work. As the gate began to go up, Alex murmured. "'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.'"

"Thanks for the encouragement, Alex." Rose bit out.

"Let's do this." Mei Ling said firmly. "Take it like all the other occult disasters, right?"

Sarah cracked a grin. "Can't be any worse than Bangladesh."

The others groaned at the reminder before beginning to walk through the gate. "We really have to stop meeting like this…" Alex said, traces of amusement in his irritated tone.

As they made their way down the stopped escalators they stopped when a wave of blackness came literally shrieking from around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, thankfully not spreading upwards, more infected humans rushing them from within it as it slowly dissipated.

Rose made her way forward to begin firing when Sarah noticed that a circle of darkness appeared on the wall. With a premonition of what was about to happen, she launched herself forward to tackle Rose. "Look out!"

A burst of black flew from the large patch of darkness, almost reaching the opposite wall, as Sarah huddled on top of Rose, covering her with her body. Soon it began to disappear, and they heard Mei Ling yelling. "Don't let it get on you! Don't even breathe in!"

After it faded the two women got up, backing away from the approaching horde of crazed victims. Once again, they fought off the horde, sustaining no damage thanks to their experience with combat. As they finished Rose spoke.

"It's reacting to us...like it knows we're coming." She said with certainty.

Alex scoffed dismissively, though there was a hint of wariness as he spoke. "This stuff can't think. It's a cancer. Cancer doesn't know you're coming, it just is."

"Then why did that look like a trap?" Sarah asked quietly. Alex didn't answer, simply moving down the stairs to continue going forward.

Soon they reached another gate passed some turnstiles. Alex turned to address the team. "New plan: fight chaos with chaos. Keep the bastards at a distance, then take them out."

"That's your plan?" Mei Ling asked incredulously.

Alex shrugged. "Well, it's _a_ plan…"

Rose shook her head before turning to Sarah, who was sheathing her blades and drawing her revolver. "You've got point, Sarah, like usual. Make every shot count, okay?"

"Don't I always?" Sarah asked with a small smile, holding her gun up and ready as they opened the gate.

When she reached the subway platform at the bottom of the new set of escalators she saw a large group of Filth infected just standing around, swaying lightly, the most movement on their forms the tentacles that waved around wildly.

Slowly she raised her gun and aimed at the head of the closest infected. She felt the others making their way behind her and pulled the trigger. The infected dropped, missing most of its head, and the others turned toward her, shrieking. The team began to launch attacks.

The fight was brutal, and there were several close calls, such as when one of the infected jumped Alex and brought him down, about to beat on him before Mei Ling sliced its head off.

Eventually they had killed all the enemies and regrouped, panting lightly.

"Alright." Rose said. "This isn't working. We're gonna need to use some heavier powers. Don't hold back, right?"

Alex coughed lightly and scratched the back of his head. "I was pacing myself…" The girls all rolled their eyes, amused by his bravado as they usually were.

Mei Ling turned to Sarah, her face serious now. "Listen, Sarah. You have to find Zuberi. We'll hold them here. Make a stand."

Sarah frowned. "Are you sure?"

Alex snorted. "I think we can handle some messed up freaks, mate."

Sarah nodded slowly before turning to head to the other side of the tracks. "Alright. Don't die, got it?"

Mei Ling waved her away. "Only if you do the same."

Sarah began to move quickly, only barely hearing Rose's wistful "I could murder for a strawberry smoothy…" as they moved away towards the entrance.

She dropped onto the tracks, looking around. Splashes of Filth covered everything, the tracks to the right blocked by rubble that had fallen from the ceiling, and the area was dim due to damaged lighting.

Thankfully her destination lay on the other side of the tracks directly in front of her, a well-lit area with a locked chain-link gate that led to the other platform.

Sarah holstered her gun and drew her blades as she approached, ready to slice through the obstacle. She stopped in her tracks when a loud of black fog appeared behind the fence, which burst open as something huge hurtled out of the darkness.

It was another Filth infected, but this one was enormous, its upper body grotesquely muscled with a disproportionately small head on its shoulders. It looked like a corrupted version of the Hulk. It glared at Sarah with glowing yellow eyes and charged at her, a low growl escaping it.

Wishing she hadn't put away her gun she dodged backwards as it swung at her before darting in to slash at it, her blades glowing with energy as she knew she couldn't afford to hold back against this enemy. The glowing steel cut deeply into the monster, who roared and swung an enormous fist at her head. She ducked under it and slashed at the passing arm, cutting it off at the elbow and releasing a burst of black blood.

The monster roared before hunching over. Darkness began to cover its form, and Sarah knew what came next wasn't anything good. She launched herself backwards, and almost made it, but was knocked on her ass when the brute emitted some sort of dark shockwave from its form, the edge of it hitting Sarah and launching her back a few feet.

She winced and got up, rubbing her tailbone before looking up as the monster charged at her. "I've had enough of this shit." She muttered before launching herself forward, the glow around her swords growing stronger. She ducked under its swinging arm and launched herself into the air to bring her blades to its neck in a scissoring motion. She encountered some resistance, but it wasn't difficult for her to remove its head from its shoulders. She landed on her feet as it toppled backwards, its disgusting blood leaking sluggishly from the newest opening in its body.

She sighed and checked her blades. None of the Filth had stuck to them due to her power covering them. Satisfied, she made her way towards the now open gateway, wary and ready for anything.

She made her way along the tracks on the other side, eventually finding her way blocked by rubble. She looked to see that the door to a train car was open. Deciding to see if she could make her way through there, she entered the car to find another door open at the opposite end of the car.

As she approached it there was the sound of a man yelling something in Japanese, and before Sarah could react there was another burst of black fog in the doorway, from which a body was shot as though from a cannon, slamming into the opposing doors with enough force to dent them. Sarah had enough time to see it was somebody in an Orochi security uniform, blood dripping out of their mouth, before she turned back to the doorway, blades at the ready for anything that came.

Instead of another monstrosity, however, the fog receded as a golden glow appeared briefly. Then a man stepped into the train car, the doors closing behind him.

He was in his early fifties, gray hair in short, swept back dreadlocks, along with a similarly colored beard, contrasting with the dark skin characteristic of a man from the Caribbean. He wore a green shirt splattered with paint stains, a necklace of small feathers around his neck and a leather coat with a leopard print inner lining. Well-worn jeans with frayed edges fit him comfortably, with black loafers covering his feet. The look was completed by red tinted circular glasses perched on his nose.

"Zuberi!" Sarah said, relieved to see the aged shaman.

Zuberi smiled back at her. "Ah, the cavalry has arrived." He turned to look out the door, on guard against any incoming trouble. "Could you please help this young man before he expires? I must be on guard."

Sarah sheathed her blades before approaching the Orochi man. "I'm not much of a healer, Zuberi. I never really focused on it."

"I do not believe he will need much power." The man said calmly.

Sarah huffed lightly, knowing that this was just Zuberi's way of trying to teach her to be more diverse in her abilities, before getting on her knees besides the semi-conscious man. Her dark skinned hands began to glow gold as she focused on her task.

Zuberi began to speak, his calming voice helping to relax her as she worked. "Even where the Filth corrupts, Gaia's power endures. Take it into yourself. Breathe it out. Will this broken body mended."

There was a small flare of power, and the man began to breathe much more easily before groaning and getting to his feet, lucid now and moving his limbs in wonder. "Arigato." He said, bowing to her.

Sarah bowed lightly back as Zuberi spoke, smiling. "Good. Good. But even Gaia will be tested by what is to come."

Sarah whirled around when she heard movement behind her, finding Alex, Rose and Mei Ling rushing down the train car, trying to catch their breaths. At Sarah's look Rose spoke slightly sardonically. "Making a stand… wasn't working out."

"Yeah, about that… this ain't looking much better, to be honest." Alex responded slightly bitingly.

"Now is not the time for argument." Zuberi snapped at them.

"Knew he would say that." Mei Ling said softly, a small smile on her face.

The group prepared to make their way out the door, the Orochi soldier picking up his assault rifle and nodding to them. "Allow me to assist you if I can for your help."

Sarah nodded. "More firepower is always welcome. Thanks."

"Let's get this show on the road." Alex said, cracking his neck and spitting the butt of his spent cig on the floor.

They found a mass of Filth infected rushing them from the platform. As they all prepared to fight Zuberi shouted. "We need to reach the next platform!"

"Easier said than done." Rose growled as she fired her shotgun.

It was a long battle, with more Filthy humans coming from the tunnels and the vents. The group ended up killing at least two dozen of the things. It got especially treacherous when two of the giant types that Sarah had fought showed up to assist the smaller varieties.

The group looked around warily once the last giant had fallen with a low groan. "Well, that was… stimulating." Rose said.

Nobody was able to respond, interrupted by the platform shaking and a patch of darkness forming on the floor in the middle of the platform. "Something's coming out of the ground!" Mei Ling cried as a dark shape began to pull itself out of the black.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?" Alex asked incredulously at the sight of this newest challenge.

It was some sort of dog, or at the very least a canine. If canines got to be taller than a man and longer than a car, that is. Its skin was the black of the Filth, and what fur it had was a dark gray, with a mass of dark spikes growing from its back. It bared its fangs, glaring at them with the luminescent yellow eyes of the other Filth creatures.

It looked around at all of them before letting out an ear piercing howl and charging at Rose in quick bounds. The Templar threw herself to the side in a well-practiced roll, barely getting away from the monstrosity before it tore at her with long, gleaming claws.

Sarah drew her gun and quickly fired shots of glowing energy that slammed into its backside. There was no way she was getting in close with that thing. The others were apparently of the same opinion, as they all began launching attacks at the beast while playing keep away as it charged at each of them in turn, trying to catch one in its slavering jaws.

It was as Mei Ling launched another wave of energy from her katana that the beast switched tactics. It planted its paws on the floor and growled, darkness beginning to swell around it.

"What the hell is it doing now!?" The Orochi soldier asked as he slammed a new clip into his weapon.

In response to this question, the monster let out another howl as orbs of blackness launched from all over its body like mortars, falling to the ground with crushing force and bursts of darkness.

Sarah yelped as she barely dodged away from an orb which slammed in the place she'd just stood. She could feel the impact through the ground at her feet. The rest were doing the same, their assault on the monster stopping as everybody scrambled to keep away from the random attacks, which went on for almost an entire minute before the monster seemed to finally get tired. Thankfully everybody managed to avoid the orbs, though they were a bit scuffed up due to close calls. Immediately they resumed the attack.

They had to weather two more similar attacks from the beast before it finally fell with a whimper, its form beginning to turn to black ash. They all looked at each other, trying to catch their breath, before Alex spoke. "Well… that happened…"

They had just gotten to the point they could breathe normally when the platform shook and more black fog appeared from the gate leading to the escalators. "The gate's opening!" Rose cried.

"I think that's bad news." Mei Ling said, taking a stance. She was proven right when the gate travelled up, releasing a new, larger horde of monsters of various sizes. "Yup, bad news."

"They're not stopping!" Rose said as she fired into the mass of black flesh, the Orochi soldier a short distance behind her, firing his assault rifle in controlled bursts.

"And they will not stop." Zuberi said grimly. "This is all to hold us back."

"Top marks for effort." Alex grunted, unleashing a blast of lightning in the face of one of the hulks.

"Someone has to push through." Zuberi continued. "This confusion may be all the chance we have."

"'Someone?'" Mei Ling asked in trepidation.

"I'll do it." Sarah said, eyes hard as she rammed her blades through an infected's heart before she began rushing towards the escalators. Her way was briefly blocked by a Filth hulk before its head was removed from its shoulders by a condensed blast of power from Rose's shotgun.

"Go! Go!" Rose cried, already turning to fire at another monster. Sarah didn't hesitate, rushing through the gap in the assault.

One of the hulks turned to follow, chasing after her as she rushed up the escalators. She'd made it halfway down the hallway when she felt the ground shake and heard Rose cry out. "Look out! It's all coming down!"

Sarah looked up to see the roof begin to fall. She launched herself forwards, barely avoiding the debris coming down. The hulk wasn't so lucky, roaring as it was slammed into by tons of stone.

Sarah gasped for breath, hands on her knees, and looked back at the wall of rubble blocking the way she came. She groaned. "Well, I guess that leaves me with one way to go…" She sighed, stood up, and began making her way deeper into the tunnels of the subway stations.

She walked for a few minutes before slowing down as she saw odd, red light shining from the next platform. "What the…?" She reached the platform and stared, slowly stepping forward, not believing her eyes.

On the other side of the tracks, the platform opened up into space. Literally. It was as though reality had simply shattered in this place, the platform breaking up and leading to the infinite. She could see stars, millions of them, and directly in front of her was a burning, dying reddish brown sun, asteroids travelling slowly by it.

She moved closer, and saw what looked like a dark planet, enormous and threatening, floating above her. It radiated a silent menace, something fathomless and horrifying.

Wrong.

She felt herself breathing quickly, close to hyperventilating.

This was _wrong._

Wrong. Wrong. wrong. WRONG. wRoNg. Wrong wrongwRong WRonG WroNgwroNg _wrongwrOngWr **onGWRO-**_

Sarah fell, collapsing on her side, eyes open, yet unseeing…

* * *

 ** _So, yeah… that happened._**

 ** _There's not really much to say about this chapter. It's still the opening of the game, a tutorial mission to get you used to combat and introduce you to one of the mysteries of The Secret World. What the fuck happened in Tokyo?_**

 ** _We'll find out eventually, but it's going to be a while._**

 ** _I hope you all enjoyed. Next chapter will be the end of the faction introductions. Then we'll be able to have some fun. Hope to see you all there. And please, review._**


	3. Pick Your Poison

Chun Hei slowly blinked her eyes open, the lights of the hotel room stinging her retinas. She slowly sat up on the bed, holding her head lightly and groaning, trying to make sense of what had just happened, of the dream she had just lived after the first sexual experience she'd ever had in her life.

She noticed that she was properly clothed again, her underwear in their proper position. Looking up she found the tattooed man standing before her, his arms crossed as he gazed down at her. She swallowed slightly before turning her head as the woman, whose name she still didn't know, spoke from the window.

"You must leave now…" She said softly, her gaze fixed on the outside. "They are asking for you…"

Chun Hei swallowed again. "The Dragon?"

The woman turned to look at her, nodding. "Yes…" Her eyes found Chun Hei's. "I'm sorry you had to see…" She hesitated before turning back to the window. "…I'm sorry."

Chun Hei sat on the bed a moment longer, her mind roiling, confused about what came next, before the man motioned her out with his head. Slowly she stood and turned towards the door. She hesitated, feeling like she should say something to this woman who she would likely never see again. But the moment passed, and she made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

She stepped back out onto the streets of Seoul, the rain now a light drizzle, wondering what to do now, when she froze. Standing underneath a light right in front of the hotel's entrance was one of the Dragon's mu. He gazed at her, eyes stern, before silently lifting his arm and pointing to the side, down an alley. Knowing it to be an instruction on where to go next, she did as told and made her way.

She walked up the street to the right of the alley exit, looking around for where she needed to go next, when she spotted something down the entrance to some sort of complex. A couple of people a bit older than her, a man and a woman, dressed in a similar shade of green as the mu, guarded the entrance. These two didn't wear robes, though. They wore a uniform of green coats and pants, brown belts and bandoleers wrapped around them, holding tools, and similarly colored boots covering their feet. They were both armed, one with a sword, the other with a shotgun.

The guards eyed her as she approached, but apparently they knew something she didn't, as the motioned her through. The woman pointed toward a nearby structure. "The Dojang is your first destination, where you are to prepare yourself for what comes next."

"I…" Chun Hei hesitated, before slumping slightly and nodding. "…Yes, I understand." She quickly made her way towards the building, passing more mu and people dressed like the guards, who she could only assume were Dragon agents. She paused under the tree that dominated the center of the open courtyard before moving forward and opening the door to the Dojang.

She stepped inside, relieved to once again be out of the chill, and looked around. The Dojang was, as the name implied, a large training area. Cases and stands full of weapons and other items, such as books, were dotted along the walls, and the open areas had hardwood floors and training mats, along with targets for ranged weaponry and dummies for melee. There were several people, both in green uniforms and not, using the facilities. Even as she watched, a girl gestured towards a dummy and a bolt of electricity struck the target. In another part, a man held a large hammer and was swinging it around in a pattern.

Chun Hei made her way towards a meditating man seated near the entrance. He was muscular, his hair tied back tightly, a robe wrapped around most of his body, leaving the right side of his chest, along with his arm, bare. She cleared her throat nervously. "Ah, excuse me…"

The man's eyes opened, and he stood up smoothly before turning to her, his gaze analytical. "I am Dae-Su, owner of The Way. You are the Dragon, one of ten thousand raindrops that will begin a flood, a flood that will crash upon the stagnant and fearful." He said, voice hard and powerful, before she could say anything else. "From out of the stillness comes great force, great force for change." He stepped towards her, almost making her step back. "I will show you. This is a house of learning. None come here unless they are prepared to learn." He looked her up and down, and Chun Hei crossed her arms, once again reminded of her near nudity. Dae-Su didn't seem to notice, however, merely continuing to speak, reaching up and tapping his finger between her breasts, making her shy away. "You contain a power, the power of Anima. It is of your breath, your blood, your life." He removed his finger, his hand up as he continued his speech. "It is an energy many seek to understand. Seek to control."

She shivered, but listened attentively. So the power she had was called Anima?

"You, are extraordinary." Dae-Su continued. "You can channel this Anima to do your will. To do the will of the Dragon." He said, his hand curling into a fist. "The closed fist, the talisman, the sword, even the gun. All of these are instruments awaiting your direction. Look around this house, at the weapons of war. Take them, sound them out. Learn the opportunities they provide. Learn the Way. When we are satisfied, you take one as your own."

Chun Hei gazed around at all the weapons, never having expected to see so many. And she was being told to try them out, to see which she'd prefer? She had never been much of a fighter, too meek to do something like attend martial arts classes, though her sister had always told her she should take some for self-defense. She simply didn't like to cause harm.

Dae-Su, after giving her a moment to ponder, continued. "This is your time for change. Before, your life was clouded, uncertain. That time is over." Chun Hei shivered once again as Dae-Su took another step toward her, eyes serious. "Dark days are coming. Some say they have already arrived, and bring all we deserve." He set his hand on her shoulder, and she almost shied away. His grip was firm, but gentle. "We shall train you to resist these dark days. And in resisting, reshape them. That… is the Way." He then moved, leading her to the weapons, before stepping back to watch, waiting for her to choose.

Chun Hei bit her lip, looking among the many weapons to choose from. She'd already determined that she had little actual choice going forward, though the vision of Tokyo had terrified her. The Dragon needed those who could wield Anima. They would not let her go easily. So her best option right now was to go along with it and prepare herself for what she would encounter. She would rage and scream when she was away from them, in private.

Immediately she shied away from the guns. She could not see how those could be used for anything other than killing, and she didn't want anything so unequivocally lethal. She eyed the swords, which were a little better, but not by much. The claws were also out, obviously for those who knew some martial arts in the first place. The hammers and maces might do, if she aimed mainly for limbs. She turned towards Dae-Su. "Ah, don't you have something more multipurpose? Something I can use for things other than killing?"

She thought that he might scoff at her, but instead the man nodded. He reached over to one of the shelves and pulled down a large, hard, leather bound book, and handed it to her. "This is a talisman, a focus, for Blood Magic. "

"B-Blood Magic?" She stuttered, eyeing the book warily.

Dae-Su began to explain. "Blood Magic can either cause damage or heal. It is one of the preferred choices for healers as it allows for powerful healing abilities while allowing them to have an offensive option if needed. Inside this particular book are a few of the more basic Blood Magic spells, and its innate magics will amplify such abilities, along with making them easier to use."

Feeling a bit more mollified, she opened the book and gazed at the first few pages, which held diagrams and instructions. Despite it not being in Korean, she found herself easily learning the information and retaining it. After only few minutes of reading she felt confident that she could perform the most basic spell in the book, which would heal minor wounds. "This is perfect, thank you."

Dae-Su nodded sharply. "Do you want to try something else?"

She looked around at the other options before shaking her head. "No, this will do." The instructor nodded again before giving her a leather holster that would hold the book on her back, allowing her to use it to augment her abilities without having to actually hold it. "Now what do I do?"

"You will need to speak with Bong Cha, the Voice of the Dragon. She and the Child are in the building directly south of here, at the end of the path. Go there immediately. You will receive further instructions there." He said seriously. "First, however…" He reached to a table nearby and picked up a sleek Anansi smartphone. He handed it to her. "Enter your information where required, so this device is registered to you." At her look of surprise he raised an eyebrow. "Those who do not change and adapt, die and are forgotten. This will be one of your primary tools. It is how you will give us reports, and receive instructions." His voice turned even more serious. "Keep it at your side at all times."

Chun Hei nodded before bowing slightly jerkily. After Dae-Su's return bow she turned and walked out of the Dojang, quickly inputting her information onto the phone. Once she was done she received a message stating that the registration was completed. Putting it into the small pocket of her skirt, she looked around for her next destination and quickly made her way towards the next building. She took a deep breath before slowly opening the door.

The interior was dim, illuminated only by candles and lamps without electricity. At the end of the room was a raised dais with two mu guards in front. On the dais was a simple wooden chair, on which sat… a child, clad in the green robes of the order. His hair was cut short, more wiry stubble than actual hair. He had the chubby features of childhood, belied by a serious look in his eye as he gazed at Chun Hei. It made her want to duck her head. Something about that gaze… unnerved her.

Standing beside the child's chair was a beautiful, yet severe, woman. He black hair was pulled back in a bun, her dark eyes scrutinizing. She wore what looked almost like a business outfit, except it was in Dragon colors, a white shirt with a green coat and long, tight skirt. She stepped forward once Chun Hei had stopped before the dais.

"Welcome to the Dragon." She said, her tone surprisingly pleasant, yet brisk. Obviously not one for wasting time. "Sorry about the rough handling. Time's short and we don't have the luxury of a soft landing." She stepped in front of the child, though not blocking his view of Chun Hei. "I'm Bong Cha. I'm the Voice of the Dragon." She introduced herself. Her tone grew commanding, a slight hint of arrogance entering it that Chun Hei doubted the other woman even realized was in it. "You don't speak with the child, you don't speak with the monks. You speak with me. You get your instructions from me. That's how it works." Bong Cha tilted her head slightly. "Are we clear?"

Chun Hei nodded meekly. "Yes Ma'am…"

Bong Cha gazed at her for a moment longer before resuming speaking. "We believe in free will…" She said, seemingly completely oblivious to the irony of that statement, considering the fact they had kidnapped Chun Hei and basically forced her to work for them. Then she continued as she turned to walk around the chair. "…within boundaries." The child smiled lightly at Chun Hei, seemingly reading her thoughts. "I'm going to set those boundaries for you, and then it's up to you to make your own choices." She stopped on the opposite side of the child's chair from where she'd started, turning back to Chun Hei. "We all have a role to play, and we're all part of the Dragon. The Head…" She gestured at the child, who simply continued gazing at Chun Hei. "The Mouth…" She now gestured to herself. She stepped back forward, motioning to Chun Hei. "The Claws and Fire. Even the dust and debris swept along in our wake. We're all part of the equation. The reality disruption." She stared down at Chun Hei, eyes smoldering. "We're agents of Chaos, and we do what needs to be done to shape the future. We do what is… necessary."

Bong Cha turned back around and gazed at the tablet she held in her arms. "At this moment new systems are forming on Solomon Island. Think of it like… the weather." She looked back up at Chun Hei. "A storm is brewing, and you're the butterfly. You need to flap your wings, add another chaotic event to the mix." She paused, letting that sink in, before resuming speaking, pacing lightly forward. "Aside from our rivals on the Council, nobody is getting into Solomon Island. The only road is through Agartha, and your kind has the right of way in there."

Chun Hei was confused, but didn't dare speak. Agartha? What was that?

Bong Cha ignored her confusion, if she noticed at all. "There are predictions, models, but even if I showed them to you, you wouldn't have a clue how to read them. Trust us to-" She cut herself off, as she'd just noticed the child had raised his hand to stop her. She quickly glanced at Chun Hei before leaning down to bring her ear to the child's mouth. Chun Hei didn't hear anything, and indeed couldn't even tell if the boy's lips were moving, but eventually Bong Cha nodded and straightened herself. "Yes, that makes sense…" She turned back towards Chun Hei. "There's been a change of plans." Her brow tightened slightly as she looked back at her tablet, tapping it quickly, and Chun Hei figured that, considering these 'models' the Dragon were so proud of, last minute changes most likely weren't to their liking.

"Recently we received a message from the Council of Venice of a new initiative put forth by their top agent. A joint team, made up of a member of each of the factions in good standing, and led by said agent. A more official form of the alliances of convenience that field agents are known to participate in. The idea is to be able to tackle greater threats through the use of a team which all would have a stake in." Bong Cha looked back at Chun Hei. "I'll be honest, it came completely out of left field. None of our models predicted it." She then let out a light sigh. "Then again, even though he's an agent of the Council, that man is practically the avatar of Chaos itself. Our models always have issues with him." She looked Chun Hei in the eyes. "We originally had an operative picked out to be our contribution, however that… fell through. So you will be our agent on this new team instead. You will obey your team leader, of course, but do not forget where your loyalties ultimately lie. Make regular reports to us, and make sure to advance our agenda."

Chun Hei swallowed but nodded. "U-understood. Where do I need to go?"

Bong Cha glanced down at her tablet. "He will be expecting you in a 'pub' called The Horned God in London. He will be in a booth on the second floor, wearing white. You can get there through Agartha quickly and easily. The meeting is in an hour. Your team leader will explain what you need to know further."

An hour? To get to London? Just what the hell was Agartha!?

"You don't have much time left, so I highly suggest you get moving. We will speak further later." Bong Cha said.

Chun Hei nodded and gave bows to both her and the child before turning and leaving.

Fifteen minutes later she was walking through a bike shop towards the open back door after getting directions from another Dragon for Agartha, the owner nodding to her like it was normal for random people to just walk through her shop. Then again, for all she knew, it was.

She stopped and stared when she reached the back yard. The place was full of nature, with lush green grass and shrubs dotted around the area, stone statues of dragons here and there.

At the far end there was a large hole in a wall surrounded by what appeared to be the roots and branches of trees, along with beautiful flowers on the ground, a golden light emanating from it. She approached carefully, spotting a beehive above the entrance, large, golden bees wandering around. Wary of being attacked by the insects, she moved slowly, but the bees seemed content to ignore her.

Once she was within the hole she saw what appeared to be a shimmering wall of golden light. She hesitantly reached out, shying away before she actually touched it. Soon enough she bit her lip and decided to just take the plunge, stepping into the light. She gasped as she felt an odd sensation of falling, before bright light nearly blinded her, making her close her eyes.

She stood there, scared, but after several minutes of nothing happening she hesitantly opened one of her eyes. The sight that met her gaze made her eyes pop wide open and an even bigger gasp escape her.

Before her was an enormous area. There was no way this was underground. She couldn't see any walls, and everything was bathed in light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. More astonishingly, what appeared to be enormous trunks of trees, wider than a cargo ship, stood everywhere. She looked up, but there was no top to them. They seemed to go on forever. Many enormous branches the size of wide streets covered them, winding around in dizzying paths that made no sense. The branches sported what looked like platforms with glowing white light swirling on them, hollow growths full of even more light there as well. As she looked back she saw that she had come out of a hollow in the trunk of one of the massive trees, a vague image of Seoul wavering like a mirage.

Not too far away she saw what looked like another trunk, except this one was hollowed out, with figures sitting around or walking around it.

That was about when she noticed all the people. Hundreds of people were walking on the branches, some stopping on platforms and disappearing in flashes of light, while others appeared in the same way, quickly making their way to other platforms or branches. Even as she watched, someone jumped from one branch to another below it, landing nimbly and moving along like nothing had happened.

Looking around, trying to get her bearings, she approached a man standing in what appeared to be the uniform of an old British train stationmaster. He was looking down at a pocket watch and stroking a bushy mustache. He looked up at her as she approached. "Hello? Yes?"

Chun Hei fidgeted. "Ah, yes, I was wondering…" She meant to ask how she was supposed to get to London, but instead what came out was "What is this place?"

The stationmaster smiled. "Ah, well now, this is the Hollow Earth, Agartha. I do hope you're not here for the local service. It's running somewhat tardy. By my watch, it's..." He looked down at his pocket watch. "One hundred years overdue at quarter past the hour." He said, putting the watch away.

Chun Hei blinked, confused, but the stationmaster continued. "Now then, judging from the cut of you, you're more of a world traveler. Well, you've come to the right place. This underground realm, like the great British rail system, is the very model of efficiency." He turned and stretched out an arm to the sprawling realm. "Agartha's thoroughfares sprout from the Tree of Life... and connect back to the surface. Distance and time bend in here. Why, you can cross the globe in a brisk walk." He said with a light chuckle.

She gaped, shocked. "Really?"

The stationmaster nodded agreeably. "Oh yes."

"Is it, um, dangerous?" Chun Hei asked hesitantly.

He shook his head. "No no, it's perfectly safe. No one's entirely sure how it works, of course. Quite bedevilled the science boffins, but I'm assured they have their top men on it. Top men!" He turned to the side, and Chun Hei squeaked as an enormous mechanical being she somehow hadn't noticed before stepped forward. "Now then, you'll be needing one of these." The stationmaster said as the things dropped an object to her, making her scramble to catch it. She looked down at it to find some sort of small orb with odd patterns etched on it. She looked back up when the stationmaster continued speaking after he'd thanked the mechanical thing.

"Fascinating devices. Fortunately there's still enough to hand out like sweets. Consider it your anchor to the Hollow Earth. It can return you here in a flash, proverbially and quite literally. So keep it close." Chun Hei nodded and put it in her pocket, thankful it wasn't too big. "Now then, where would you be off to?"

"London, sir. Can you please tell me how to get there?" She asked as politely as she could.

"Ah, that one's simple." He pointed towards a hollow spot in the trunk of the tree behind her, different from the one she'd emerged from. "That one there leads to the main exit for London, not far from the headquarters of the Templar. You should be able to get to wherever you need to go from there."

Chun Hei bowed lightly to the man. "Thank you for your help, sir. I must be going."

He waved her off. "My pleasure, dear. You ever need further directions, just ask."

With one last nod, she quickly made her way towards her destination. Hesitating before the portal, seeing an image of the streets of London, she took a deep breath and stepped through.

* * *

Liz groaned softly, eyes opening blearily to the sterile lights of Zurn's lab. She brought a hand to her head, expecting pain or discomfort after the dream, vision, whatever the hell that was, but surprisingly not feeling any. Slowly she sat up on the chair, noticing absently that she was no longer restrained. She could hear Zurn speaking for his computers.

"Pineal gland... overstimulated, higher brain functions..." he turned to her with a small smirk. "…functioning. That is great work!" He said loudly. "Well above MK-ULTRA's success rate." He pushed himself back from the desk as Liz glared at him, finally getting her bearings. He didn't seem to notice her ire. "Hey, can I ask you, have you ever seen a jaguar tripping?"

Liz opened her mouth to snap out something distinctly uncomplimentary, but Geary's voice came over the computer, interrupting her. "Zurn!" She practically bellowed, making the wild haired scientist jump, panicked.

"Wow!" He turned back to the computer, holding his hands up. "Yes!" He turned back to Liz. "Look it up sometime." Then he pointed at her before gesturing to the exit. "Hey, you better haul ass to the Test Chamber. Jump through a few hoops."

"Test chamber?" Liz asked in irritation, gratified to find that she could actually speak now. "Test chamber for what?"

Zurn ignored her, and she growled before beginning to get off the table. As she did so, she began to feel some irritation in the back of her neck. She raised a hand to scratch at the point but froze when Zurn suddenly held up his hands to stop her. "Oh, oh!" He spoke rapidly. "You may be feeling some discomfort from the microchip that I grafted to your spinal column."

"YOU WHAT!?" Liz screeched, making the doctor wince.

"N-no worries though. I me-mea-mean, it-it's… it's gonna fade… Really!" He stuttered, slightly panicked by her smoldering glare. He got up, nervously approaching her. "And as your doctor, I'd caution you, strongly caution you... don't try removing it, okay?"

Liz's eye twitched, and she seriously considered launching herself at the doctor and beating him within an inch of his life. Finally though, she let out a breath and stood up, giving Zurn one last glare before leaving the room.

The Illuminati complex was massive, and there were many people dressed in some variation of blue wandering around. She stopped a woman dressed in a blue suit carrying some papers. "Excuse me, apparently I need to go to the 'Test Chamber'?" She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but she apparently didn't succeed, as the woman gave her an amused look.

"New recruit, probably just saw Zurn?" The woman asked. She chuckled at Liz's scowl and nod. "Yeah, I get it." She gave Liz the directions, which sounded needlessly complex, but she did her best to memorize them.

Soon enough she continued to make her way through the complex before ending up in front of a large steel door like something you'd find on a warship. She wondered what it was built so robustly for. Taking a breath she pulled the door open and walked in.

She found herself in a large, dilapidated area. The ground was covered in dirt. She could see what looked like blue holographic target dummies in the next room after the current one, which made her guess that this was about assessing her combat capabilities.

As she walked forward a man approached her, his eyes travelling along her form, though she didn't notice any of the lust she was used to accompanying such looks. Instead he seemed… disappointed. He was black, handsome and well groomed, dressed in the Illuminati version of a suit, the blue pyramid along the hem of his coat.

"They give me clay and expect me to hand them back steel." He said in an accent that she couldn't quite place, sounding exasperated. Liz felt herself bristle. He didn't seem to notice as he continued. "Hmph, it is not an instructor they want, it is an alchemist."

"Excuse me?" Liz growled.

The man, who had turned away from her, pacing, turned back to her. "You, my friend, are in a world of tigers. And they will eat you alive if you are weak, if you hesitate, if you do not strike first." He gestured to the training room grandiosely. "Here you will learn to strike first and strike hard. For those combat holograms, they can do nothing to you."

He gave a small smirk. "I, however, have a high-powered rifle and a streak of what some call sadism." His eyes glinted. "I call it a will to incentivize." He studied her again. "You have potential, but we have no time to tease it out of you." He stepped back and gestured to her. "Inside you is a power – an anima – you can draw on to make yourself stronger, faster, a more effective killer."

Liz was paying more attention now, eager to hear more about whatever power she'd somehow obtained.

"It is the magic behind the magic bullet." He continued. "The weapons you use will become an extension of yourself. They are the instruments through which your anima is made force." He gazed at her seriously now. "I want you to arm yourself and show me that force." He directed her attention to a large group of various weapons sitting in the training area near the holograms. "We have an arsenal here, you can experiment with all of them if you please. But…" He wagged a finger at her. "When you leave, you can only take one with you."

Liz considered the weapons, wondering which would suit her best, as he turned away from her and began to walk away. "You have an edge, my friend, and I am not interested in how or why you came to possess it." He turned back to her, practically glaring. "Only that you sharpen it to the best of your abilities. Nothing less." He gestured back to the holograms. "In the Test Chamber, you can do so in safety. Safe… except from me…" He chuckled lowly, making the hairs on the back of Liz's neck prick up. "Now… let us begin…"

Slightly spooked, Liz made her way to the weapons and looked over them. She didn't know what the books and other junk were for, so she ignored them. She eyed the swords and hammers, but didn't kid herself. She wasn't the type to use brute strength. That left her the guns. Pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles greeted her gaze, and she reached down to grab one of the rifles. She brought it up to her shoulder, gazing down the sights.

"You have some experience with firearms, I take it?" The man who's name she still hadn't gotten asked, staring at her with a small smile on his lips.

"I have enough." She grabbed the ammo clip and pulled it out to find a block of some sort of golden material in place of bullets. "Where's the ammo?"

"I told you, didn't I?" He responded. "Your anima will be conducted through the weapons. In place of regular rounds, the guns fire concentrated bullets of your anima, allowing you to imbue them with various effects. Put the clip back in and try it on the holograms."

Doing as she was instructed she loaded the clip back in and aimed at the nearest hologram before pulling the trigger. A burst of glowing bullets, like tracer rounds, hid the shoulder of the blue figure. Adjusting her aim she fired again, this time hitting it center mass. Readjusting again, this time the bullets hit its head. Satisfied, she lowered the rifle. "This'll do, I think."

The man nodded in satisfaction. "Satisfactory. Could be better, of course. You didn't scatter the bullets for area of effect or imbue them with energy to give them elemental properties, but that can be learned in time. You'll do for now."

"Gee, thanks…" Liz growled in irritation.

He proceeded to give her a harness that would allow her to attach the rifle to her back along with a small sticker to put on it which he said would keep most people from noticing it, so she could carry it freely. Then he handed her the latest model Anansi smartphone. "This is your connection to the Illuminati. You'll file reports on your activities and receive instructions through it. So don't lose it. All you need to do is finish the registration."

She nodded and took the phone, quickly filling out the bits of information it required before looking up. "Alright, now what?"

"Now you go speak with Geary for your first assignment. You'll find her in her office near the top of the facility. Don't keep her waiting." He finished seriously.

Liz nodded and quickly began making her way out of the Test Chamber. She tried to make her way to her destination quickly, but managed to get lost and have to ask for directions again. Eventually she made it into a large office with wide windows overlooking the East River.

A woman was dancing lightly in the office to whatever music was coming out of her earbuds, her back to Liz. She could only assume this was Geary. From what she could see she had platinum blonde, most likely dyed, hair in a bob cut, wearing a tight Illuminati blue business dress. She was humming along with the music, snapping her fingers.

"I fucking love old-school hip hop. Don't you?" She practically shouted before removing the buds and turning to Liz, a smirk on her pretty face. Liz was vaguely reminded of some famous singer when she saw Geary's face. Her new boss reached up to lightly touch the large Illuminati pyramid necklace hanging between her breasts, easily visible due to her dress' plunging neckline.

Liz shifted slightly, unsure of what to say, and Geary quirked an eyebrow. "Projecting indecision is a big no-no, always smile. But this isn't another test. We don't do probation; you're either in or you're out." Geary said, speaking rather rapidly but confidently.

"The Illuminati are very achievement focused. It's like Xbox - only everything is hardcore." She continued, a small smirk on her lips as she paced lightly in front of Liz. "The ethic I really want to instill in you is to aim high and achieve even higher. It's not just in your best interest, it reflects on me too, and that is super important." She leaned forward slightly, eyes glinting. "Make me look bad, I'll mount your head on my wall as an object lesson to the next fuck-up." She said simply.

Liz slowly smiled at what she presumed was a joke. Said smile died a quick death at Geary's next words. "God, it is so cute when you new guys think I'm kidding."

Geary picked up her phone and glanced at it. "I was going to have you join the agents in Solomon Island to help deal with that clusterfuck, but it's been brought to my attention that the Council's ace wants to form his own band of Super-Friends to deal with the catastrophe of the week. So, rather than risk a high level agent with extensive knowledge to this experiment, I'm going to assign you to his new team. Besides, this way we can see just how much that crazy bastard's tutelage will affect your growth. With any luck you'll become a huge badass in a short time." Geary smirked. "Sounds like a win for everybody involved to me."

"Okay…" Liz said, unsure about being essentially sacrificed for being unimportant. "Where do I meet this guy then?"

"London." Was the prompt reply. "Pub by the name of The Horned God. I hear it's supposed to be a nice place. He'll be on the second floor, probably wearing the Council uniform of white and blue."

Liz grimaced lightly. "That's going to be a long flight. When do I have to be there?"

Geary looked beyond amused. "Meeting's in an hour." She laughed lightly at Liz's aghast look. "Relax, we have more efficient methods of travel than planes. Head to Agartha. It'll be a quick trip from there." Her phone began to ring. "Gotta take this. Ciao." She turned her back to Liz, the dismissal obvious, so she quickly got out of the office.

Once again searching for somebody to give her directions, this time to Agartha, whatever the fuck that was, she stopped and stared at a woman who was walking closer, a tablet in her hand. "Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me…" She said as Leah, the woman who played D&D with the nutjob in the laundromat, approached.

Leah stopped near Liz and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, an amused glint in her eyes. "Hello again."

Liz stared at her dully. "I knew that paranoid bastard was being watched, considering the cameras, but really? Why is he so interesting to you guys?"

Leah shrugged, a smile on her lips. "Dave has an interesting tendency to ferret things out. Monitoring and misdirection are necessary. Besides, he's a really good DM." She chuckled. "We didn't replace his girlfriend with an android though. Why she stays with him, I have no idea. Sex must be fucking amazing. Anyway…" She glanced at the nearby entrance to Geary's office. "Just met the boss?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. She wants me to join a team led by someone from some council. I'm supposed to get to London in an hour… somehow…"

Leah's eyebrows rose. "Really? She wants you to join the new multi-faction team that's being formed? Huh, interesting." She grinned. "I'm kinda jealous. You'll probably learn amazing things under the Stormbringer's guidance. You better make a good impression."

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Liz asked. "Geary acted like he's a big deal, and now you. And what's this about 'Stormbringer'?"

Leah grinned. "I wouldn't want to spoil it. Trust me though, he has a hell of a reputation. Anyway, you probably don't know how to get to Agartha, right?" At Liz's nod she continued. "Alright, here's what you do…"

Fifteen minutes later Liz was walking through a shipping warehouse full of workers loading trucks. None of them paid her much attention, apparently used to random people just wandering through. Going into a room labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only' as she'd been told, she found a room in disarray.

The concrete on the ground was broken apart, revealing dark earth covered in grass and plants. A tunnel leading under the building ended in what appeared to be a wall of shimmering light, above which bees buzzed along happily around their beehive.

Remembering Leah's instructions, Liz hesitantly walked into the shimmering pool of golden light on the wall. When she dared to open her eyes again, she was in awe, staring around, trying to see everything.

Another ten minutes later, after speaking with a weird stationmaster and getting an object that would apparently transport her back to Agartha whenever she wanted, she made her way through the London portal, coming out in what appeared to be a subway platform. She looked around, shaking herself after the weird trip, and made her way up the stairs. Soon, however, her way up to street level was impeded by someone standing in the middle of the doorway.

"Excuse me, some of us have places to be." Liz said, irritated. The Asian girl, slightly older than she was, if she had to guess, started and turned to her before stepping aside, murmuring an apology. Liz stepped passed and continued making her way out, hearing the girl who had been blocking the way following behind her.

The main area of the station was dirty and rundown. It obviously didn't see much of its intended use. Instead there were various stands with fruit, clothing, and even antique looking weapons on display. Stepping out onto the London streets Liz looked around, trying to figure out where she needed to go now. She stopped and blinked, however, when she realized that her destination was right across the street. Relieved, she began to make her way towards The Horned God when she spotted the Asian girl from before walking in the same direction. Scowling, Liz whirled around to glare at her. "What the hell!? Are you following me?"

* * *

Amanda groaned as she returned to consciousness, sitting on the ground with her back against a wall. She blearily opened her eyes, trying to shake the images of the dream she'd just had. As her eyes opened she found a young woman with her hair tied back and mirrored sunglasses kneeling in front of her.

"You look like you've just seen the end of the cosmos, mate." She said, offering her hand, which Amanda took gratefully, being helped to her feet. "I know the feeling. We're on the edge of it and it's time to play your part, seen?" The woman continued once Amanda was steady on her feet. She leaned down and picked something up off the ground. "Me and you, we're blood now, yeah?" She handed Amanda the letter from the Templars with a smile. "Templars for the win and that."

Amanda took the letter. "T-thanks…" She said, still trying to get her bearings.

The woman gazed at Amanda's shaky form over her glasses before chuckling lightly. "Never mind. Looks like you've got some training to do before you're ready for your first kill." She gestured over her shoulder. "You want to do what your letter says. Go speak with Sonnac at the Templars gaff. It's not far, can't miss it." At Amanda's look she continued earnestly. "Honest. It's unmissable."

Not long later, Amanda was staring. The woman had been right, it was unmissable.

The Templar headquarters was a large, opulent compound, built like a fortress of white stone and surrounded by a high wall with only a single open entrance flanked by red banners sporting the white Templar cross. Two guards in red and white uniforms stood ready in front of the entrance, eyes sharp and alert for anything.

Nervously, Amanda approached the compound. As the guards eyed her she held up the letter. One of the guards took it and studied it before looking at her. "Welcome." He said, handing the letter back with a small smile. "Always good to have new blood. Go ahead and enter. Sonnac should be in his office, most likely expecting you. Don't take too long getting there."

Amanda nodded and quickly made her way inside after getting directions to Sonnac's office. As she walked she couldn't help but look around. Everywhere she looked she saw evidence of wealth and history. Soon enough though, she reached the office and knocked on the door. "Come in." Came a man's voice. Taking a breath Amanda opened the door and walked into an opulent office, with rich dark woods and a deep red carpet with the Templar cross in gold covering the marble floor.

Sitting behind a beautiful desk was a black man with a trimmed goatee in a well-tailored suit gazing at Amanda with dark, intelligent eyes. He smiled at her and stood. "Come in, come in. I'm very pleased you can follow directions on the back of a card. It is the basis for us getting along famously. Of course, with an establishment like this, we're practically in the Yellow Pages under 'Crusaders'. Richard Sonnac." He said, holding out his hand to shake hers.

Amanda took his hand and shook it firmly. "Amanda Hall, sir."

"A pleasure." He slipped his hands behind his back and began to pace, studying Amanda. "So, you heeded our call to arms. You have questions, I can furnish you with answers. Some answers." He stopped and turned to her. "To begin with, you haven't strayed into some atrocious Dan Brown airport paperback. We are not the 'Knights Templar'. That particular appellation went out in the 1300s, along with pageboy haircuts and burning at the stake."

"I'm glad to hear it. I never liked Brown anyway. Too self-important." Amanda said with a smile.

Sonnac chuckled lightly before continuing. "Well, we now run a twenty first century… well, let's say 'forward-facing' organization, but one with its strength in ancient bonds of tradition. In loyalty. In blood. And, to be perfectly frank, in a sizeable private army." He stopped the pacing he'd resumed by his desk and gazed at Amanda seriously. "Our firm guidance is needed to save the world from itself. We have kept the matters of squabbling secret societies and loathsome dimensions discreet." He turned his back to her, gazing at one of the expensive paintings on the wall. "Until the shadows began to peel back across the globe. Until these darkest of days came upon us."

Sonnac sighed. "Now, the evidence is on television, for pity's sake. We are at war. Might will make right, and it will fall upon us to judge the correct application of might. It falls upon you…" He pointed at Amanda intensely. "…as a soldier of the Templars. Show me that you have the will, and we can teach you the way. Your remarkable powers can be honed and controlled... at least, to less disastrous effect on property values." He moved back behind his desk and took a seat. "There is a private training area which we have reinforced for just that purpose. Come back and see me after."

Amanda nodded and followed a guard who motioned for her to go with him. The guard didn't say anything, leading her through the hallways of the Templar headquarters as she continued looking around. Soon enough she was led to a door. "The training area with the Templars' main instructor is through there." The guard said. "He's abrasive, but knows his stuff." With that, he began walking down the way they came.

Amanda turned from watching the guard leave to gaze at the door. Taking a deep breath she opened the door and entered a large room with a firing range with paper targets at the end. What really caught her gaze, however, was the pillars in a recessed area which had monsters chained to them by the arms. The things were hideous, grey, bumpy flesh, eyes hidden by some sort of leather strips, and wide mouths full to the brim with teeth.

Her horrified fascination was interrupted by a man's voice. "Christ almighty. We've got our work cut out for us." She turned to see a man with an eyepatch walking up to her, his single eye glaring.

"Excuse me?" Amanda asked, surprised.

The man stopped in front of her, folding his arms across his chest. "The Crucible is my house, and in my house my word is law. Forget your mother's teat, from now on this is your home." He snarled out in his rough voice, continuing to glare at her as he slowly walked towards her. "This is where you learn to stay alive. You've come here an empty slate. You have potential, that's why you were recruited, but that potential needs strict guidance. You're a loaded weapon, and if you don't learn to control yourself and channel your powers, you'll end up hurting yourself. Or others."

The man, who still hadn't introduced himself, began to pace in front of Amanda. "You have the ability to manifest anima, your life force, in the physical world. To enhance your strength, your physical attributes. To do magic. Martial magic. None of that faerie stuff." He snorted dismissively. "Whatever trinket you hold in your hand is merely a way to direct your powers. We don't do magic wands here. Through your weapon, you channel and wield your magic. Never mind why this power has been awakened in you. You're not the only one, and you're not the Chosen One, you're part of an army, our army, and from now on you'll do what you're told." Amanda swallowed, leaning back as the angry man shoved a finger under her nose for emphasis. "It's the way of the Templars."

He turned and motioned to the rest of the room. "Consider this your playground. It's not like being out on the front lines, but it's close enough. We have a choice of weapons for you to practice with. Try as many as you wish. When we're done, you get to pick one. You'll want to make sure you're comfortable with your weapon. It'll be the only thing between you and a trip to the graveyard." He pointed at the monsters chained to the pillars. "Those things are called Rakshasa, they're basic hellhounds. We keep them chained. They used to make such a mess of the new recruits. Use them for target practice. Don't worry, they don't feel a thing, and they're unworthy of mercy." He snarled, glaring at the things, the Rakshasa. "Spend your time in the Crucible well. There's no point rushing things. Out there, the demons aren't chained up, and you don't have me around to save your sorry arse. Go on, get started! I'll offer some guidance along the way."

Amanda nodded and made her way to the weapons. She looked around at the weapons on stands and in cases, pondering. Did she want a firearm, or a sword? Were the books special? And what about those weird figures that looked like they were made of USB cables?

Her eyes fell upon a war hammer. She moved over and picked it up easily, surprised by how little trouble she was having doing so. She swung it around experimentally, getting used to it.

"Ah, the hammer. It can do a lot of damage in the right hands." Captain Eyepatch, as Amanda had mentally dubbed him, chimed in. "Great for getting through armor, and sure to catch attention. It's a good choice… If you can handle it, that is."

She looked at the bound Rakshasa before hesitantly moving towards the closest one. Hoping the man was right about them not feeling pain, she heaved her weapon and swung it at a hanging leg, not noticing the head of the hammer glow slightly. The limb shattered with a loud crack, but the monster didn't even twitch in pain, which relieved Amanda immensely.

"Good for a newbie. Widen your stance though, and rest one of your hands higher on the shaft." Captain Eyepatch said.

Doing as instructed Amanda swung again, getting a feel for it. She made several more swings before setting it down, breathing slightly heavily. "I think I'll keep the hammer."

"Up to you. As long as you're comfortable with your weapon and won't get yourself killed in the first five minutes you're on assignment, I don't care. If you do, I'm coming after you when you're better." He growled.

Wondering what the hell that meant, Amanda took the harness for carrying her weapon on her back and put it all on. She was about to leave when Captain Eyepatch spoke again. "Just a moment." He went to a nearby table and picked up a smartphone, which she recognized as Anansi's latest. He handed it to her. "You'll need this. Sonnac will be sending you orders through it, and he'll be expecting reports from you constantly. So be careful with it, got it?"

Almost cackling in glee at having a phone that wasn't even supposed to be commercially available for another month and happily imagining all the tweaks she could make to the coding, Amanda nodded and swiftly filled out the registration required. Once she was sure she wasn't needed for anything else, she quickly made her way out of the room and hurried back to Sonnac's office.

When she arrived she found Sonnac standing by his desk, studying a letter with the symbol of a black winged lion, a sword in the background pointing downwards on a field of bluish silver. He looked up when she entered. "Ah, finished trying out a weapon, I see. Good. Just in time, too." He set the letter down. "In that case, it's time for your first assignment. Originally I had planned to have you try to contain and investigate an incident on an island in the Colonies. However, I find myself needing someone for a new joint venture between the factions sponsored by the Council of Venice's personal god of war. There really is no reason for us to not answer the call, and you appear to be a perfect candidate."

"I'm sorry sir, but what's the Council of Venice? And what other factions?" Amanda asked, curious.

Sonnac waved a hand and took a seat. "Your new team leader can explain the details. There's no time for me to do so, as you're supposed to meet him in twenty-five minutes. Thankfully it's not far. A pub by the tube station called The Horned God. You might have noticed it on your way here." Amanda nodded. It had looked like an interesting place. "Keep in mind, however, that despite the terms of the agreement we're entering into by joining this venture saying that faction issues are to be left at the door, as it were, you are still a Templar. We expect you to continue reporting to us as you work, and work to advance our agenda as best you can without causing complications. Understood?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good. Then you're free to leave. We don't want to make a bad impression, after all." Sonnac said, dismissing her.

Amanda quickly turned and left the room, looking down at her new phone to see how much time she had left.

Fifteen minutes later she was approaching The Horned God, relieved she was going to be on time to what seemed like was going to be an important meeting. Last thing she needed was to cock things up on the first day on the job, after all.

She was walking by a couple of women, eyeing the weapons on their backs and figuring they were probably Templars too, when one, the attractive blond, suddenly turned to the other, shouting in what was definitely an American accent. "What the hell!? Are you following me?"

The other girl, Asian, shrank back slightly. "N-no…" She said hesitantly with an accent Amanda couldn't place. "I have a meeting in that building."

That sparked Amanda's interest. "It wouldn't happen to be with someone from something called 'The Council of Venice', would it?" She asked as she stopped and turned to them.

Both other girls stared at Amanda before the timid Asian nodded. "Yes. I have to be there in a few minutes."

The American let out a breath. "Seriously? We're all going to the same place? That's coincidental."

Amanda shrugged. "Nothing's been normal since I woke up with freaking superpowers." Then she grinned, eyes glinting. "Which I don't mind, because seriously, superpowers!"

Blondie rolled her eyes before huffing. "Fine, then we should get moving so we aren't late." She promptly began to stride towards the pub. Amanda shared a shrug with the other girl before following.

The inside of The Horned God was very nice and clean. It was well illuminated, most of the establishment made of wood. It looked like exactly the kind of place Amanda would like to sit and have a pint in.

The three girls walked up the stairs to the second floor, looking around for their contact among the booths. It was the Asian girl (Amanda really did need to remember to ask for their names) who got their attention and motioned to a booth in the corner, where someone in white could be seen eating. The group made their way to the booth and knocked, catching the attention of the man inside, who looked up.

He was Asian as well, handsome enough to make a girl swoon, with stormy blue eyes that studied the three in front of him intently yet without wariness. His black hair was messy in the front, the back tied into a long pigtail that reached his mid back. He wore a white Chinese silk shirt with a rearing horse stitched in sky blue, which did nothing to hide his athletic body. He was built like a swimmer or sprinter, lean and aerodynamic, but with obvious muscle.

He swallowed his food before sitting back, continuing to eye them. "So, you're the ones the three factions assigned to my team, huh?" He motioned for them to sit down in front of him. "Take a seat. Name's Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

* * *

 ** _Yay, we've finally reached the major deviation from canon Secret World. Ranma joins the party! (Or rather, the girls join Ranma's party.)_**

 ** _How Ranma got involved in the Secret World and the Council of Venice will be explained next chapter. It'll be mostly lots of talking as I establish the various characters' backgrounds._**

 ** _For those curious about how combat will go with Ranma's involvement, everything will basically be on hard mode. There will be tougher enemies, the Dungeons will be set to their Nightmare difficulty, and Ranma will occasionally leave the girls to fend for themselves as he deals with the Lairs._**

 ** _The game just added a new feature a few days ago, Agent Management. You basically recruit various people to your faction and assign them missions, getting them experience and reaping rewards. Think of it like some of the Assassin's Creed games, where you could do something similar. I'm considering implementing it in the fic sometime, though it'll probably be a while before I do. The girls need to establish themselves and build a reputation in their factions first._**

 ** _I don't really have much else to say. I'll probably write one more chapter of this fic before switching to one of my others. So expect the next chapter most likely next week._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed. Till next time. Please review._**


	4. My Name Is

Saotome Ranma was, at his core, a simple man with simple desires. He enjoyed good food, a good fight, and (ever since his fiancée issues had resolved themselves) the company of a good woman.

As he ate his third order of fish and chips while waiting for his new subordinates to arrive, the twenty-five year old warrior thought back to the crazy (even for him) chain of events that had led him to his prominent position in the Council of Venice.

Shortly before he turned eighteen some insane mage in the Juuban district of Tokyo had managed to summon some sort of greater demon lord. Ranma and his entourage were on a class trip in the area at the time and ended up getting involved. Though whoever had the bright idea of putting members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew in the same district as the Sailor Senshi was a goddamn moron, in Ranma's opinion. He promptly put his money on Principal Kuno being said moron.

Ranma, Ryoga, Ukyo, Shampoo, Mousse and Akane had all joined the fight against the waves of monsters that had flooded from the epicenter of the catastrophe, soon linking up with the Senshi themselves and a group led by a guy Ranma's age named Tenchi. The battle dragged on for hours, long enough for even the JSDF to get involved, fighting demons and monsters with heavy weapons and high caliber bullets and making decent headway despite a fair amount of losses.

In the end Sailor Moon, Tenchi and Ranma had fought their way to the demon that had begun the entire event. As Juuban burned around them the three fought the being and its pet mage for nearly an hour, not stopping despite their reserves getting dangerously low. It was after they finally managed to kill the mage, growing low on stamina and power, that they tried a final gambit. Ranma drew the demon's attention, launching Moko Takabisha and Hiryu Shoten Ha variations like candy, exhausting himself greatly, while Moon and Tenchi pooled their powers, both either Divine or at the least Light aligned, in order to try to seal the demon once again.

Ranma was close to falling, beyond exhausted, when the two finally launched the attack. An orb of white energy hit the demon dragging it into itself as it roared in rage, its great form disappearing quickly. Ranma had tried to move away, but due to exhaustion wasn't fast enough and the demon ended up grabbing his leg, determined to drag at least one of its enemies down with it.

Moon and Tenchi, despite their own fatigue, launched attacks at the monster to try to get it to leave Ranma alone. They managed to get it to let go, but Ranma was already being dragged into the event horizon. In desperation both Moon and Tenchi tried use their powers to drag him back, but all that did, as far as Ranma could tell, at least, was do something to change the magic's properties just as the demon lord fully disappeared. Ranma was still sucked in, but didn't end up in the same place the demon had gone, which was a blessing as far as he was concerned.

He could still remember the two's distraught faces as he disappeared, though. They hadn't known each other long, but they'd become comrades in arms in a short amount of time. He'd have liked to find out if they could have become friends

Though knowing his luck, Moon would end up being another fiancée.

He'd woken up to find himself in front of what he now knew to be an entrance to Agartha, barely able to move his body. What came next he only really knew due to speculation and 'talks' with Gaia (something any Bee was capable of, though most only got snippets of information).

Gaia was not amused when an extra dimensional intruder suddenly appeared on her plane. She had enough trouble when it came to the damn Sleepers as it was. So she'd immediately gone on the attack. Before Ranma could really react one of her golden bees had approached and entered his mouth, forcing itself down his throat like it would whenever Gaia chose somebody to be a Bee. It had a darker purpose this time, however. Its mission was to get all the information it could about Ranma for Gaia before burning him up from the inside, incinerating his very soul so that the threat to Gaia was eliminated completely.

Ranma'd felt agonizing pain, the kind he'd never thought existed, convulsing and writhing on the ground, unable to even scream as the bee went through everything that made him who he was. At the time, he'd almost prayed for death. It would have been beyond merciful compared to what he was enduring. However, the time that the bee, that Gaia, took to study him rather than destroy him out of hand saved his existence.

Gaia had gone through his history and found his ability to contend with demigods and demons despite being a pure human intriguing, so she'd dug deeper, finding his core personality and motivations. While there was some she obviously didn't like (his arrogance and tendency to screw others over if it served him), she also found things to prize (his willingness to put himself on the line if needed, his determination to improve himself). In the end, considering that he was able to fight someone of Saffron's level without any enhancement or tools beyond a (relatively) minor magical weapon made him too useful to discard. So rather than burn his soul to metaphorical ash, Gaia granted him her blessing, turning him into one of her Bees, though with the knowledge imprinted in his mind that she'd end him if he proved himself not worth the investment.

It went without saying that Ranma was more than determined to make sure she didn't regret her decision. And when he learned of a certain benefit of becoming a Bee, he practically got down on his knees to worship her.

After he'd sufficiently recovered from his ordeal he'd made his way into the city he'd woken in, finding out he'd wound up in this world's Kyoto. Thankful that he hadn't ended up in some place he wasn't equipped for, like Russia, he'd gone to the nearest internet café to get some information, happy that he'd been convinced to learn how to use a computer by Kasumi and Nabiki, considering how necessary they were to daily life. He'd quickly gotten online and taken in everything he could find about where he was. Then, knowing he wouldn't be able to get much information on the magical side of the world online without knowing where to look, he'd gone hunting for the nearest center of occult activity. It being Kyoto, one of the more traditionalist areas of the country, it hadn't taken him long to find it.

He'd stayed in the area for a week, participating in pit fights for cash and getting as much information on what was known as The Secret World as possible. There he'd learned of the various factions, and the fact that nearly every Bee was a member of one of them. He'd then studied the factions to see which one would fit him best, knowing despite his inherent arrogance that having a support system in an unknown new world was the smart option.

He'd dismissed the Illuminati almost immediately. Their manipulations and double dealing weren't his style, though he'd admit the perks were nice.

The Dragon struck him as too conniving and secretive. He'd rather know what his goals were supposed to be. Besides, he'd had more than enough chaos in his life so far, though he wasn't naïve enough to think he'd escaped it completely.

The Templars actually seemed to fit him best. Blunt and straightforward, using martial might to make things go their way. However, they had downsides too. They were no doubt heavily hidebound and traditionalist, which Ranma definitely wasn't. Plus, their policy of burning down a village to eliminate a single monster didn't sit well with him. He'd prefer something less heavy handed.

The Phoenicians were ruled out about as quickly as the Illuminati were. Backstabbing assholes that were entirely focused on profit and would stab their own grandmothers in the back for a bit of coin didn't interest him in any way, shape or form.

Then, in his research, he'd learned of the Council of Venice. The regulatory body that tried to keep the occult contained, and the factions from blowing the world up. Generally outgunned and outmanned, with very few Bees to their name, they were seen more and more as a useless relic.

However, Ranma saw an opportunity in the Council. They tended to send agents into occult disasters to try to keep things from spiraling out of control. If he became a field agent it would allow him to stretch his legs and test his skills without giving him annoying moral dilemmas. Of more minor importance (to him, at least) were their connections and influence, which were still decently significant despite waning. And the factions would be less likely to try to screw him over if he was under the Council's banner.

There were, of course, downsides. He couldn't imagine the Council would just let him do as he wished. Not until he'd gotten himself a decent reputation, at least. But of all his options, it was the one with the least amount of issues to its name, at least as far as he could find.

He would, of course, find himself learning of further issues in the future. For the moment, though, it was his best option.

It had taken some doing to get the Council's attention in a way that wouldn't piss them off immediately, but once they found out he was an unaffiliated Bee they jumped to recruit him, agreeing to make him a probationary field agent.

From there he'd gone on to build a name for himself through various victories. Bogota, Sochi, Capetown, Honolulu (he'd really enjoyed that assignment), Las Vegas… His name had grown and grown at an incredible rate, to the point where even faction agents treated him with respect.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, of course. He got reprimanded more often than not for going beyond his remit and assignment. But he brought in results, so there was not much they could do beyond scolding him and giving him a few crap assignments, though even those ended up adding to his reputation. That one in that old haunted Siberian gulag hadn't been fun though… Still, after seven years as an agent of the Council, he was in a good place, and the Council's own position had strengthened due to his actions. Things were going well.

Then Tokyo happened, and everything went to shit.

The event had sent a shockwave of occult activity throughout the world. Crises and catastrophes were popping up everywhere constantly. Every supernatural group was scrambling to deal with the increased workload, the three main factions ramping up their recruiting to the point they accelerated the process, giving some people less than a day to acclimate before being sent on assignment. From what he'd heard, even the Dragon's vaunted models were struggling to keep up.

It was the biggest mess the supernatural world, if not the world itself, had seen since the Battle of Armageddon. And it was Ranma's job to help clean it up.

He sighed and took a drink of his beer. That led him to the reason he was sitting in The Horned God.

He'd had the idea, after studying the alliances of convenience faction agents often got into out in the field, of setting up a more formal version of those fireteams. A team of agents, one from each of the three major factions, under the command of a Council agent, namely Ranma himself. The group could pool their abilities and experience to deal with issues around the world.

The main problem he saw arising with such an endeavor was the inevitable infighting between the members due to their primary loyalties. He only hoped that the fact that each faction had a stake in his project succeeding would keep them from actively sabotaging each other.

The Council fought him on it. The criticisms and mockery the factions heaped on it weren't actually wrong. The Council was a good idea that unraveled into too much bureaucracy and infighting, with consensus and decisions rarely achieved. They were slow to change, and those that could affect things in a positive manner looked at it dismissively.

Ranma agreed with Gaia's whispers. The likelihood of the Council of Venice finding its feet again depended on another near disaster like Armageddon to embolden them and give them purpose again, much as he'd rather it not come to that. Still, he'd thrown in his lot with them, and they were essentially the lesser evil of The Secret World. So he'd continue applying band-aids to the broken body till he found some way to actually properly fix things.

In the end, after much debate (ie arguing and shouting), the Council agreed to back his experiment. Arturo Castiglione was set to help oversee, though he'd promptly given Ranma almost total control, only asking for reports he could show the rest of the Council. Ranma could live with that.

Now he was waiting for the agents assigned to his team by the Dragon, the Illuminati, and the Templars. He only hoped they wouldn't be too much of a pain.

He'd just taken another bite of his fish when someone knocked on the doorframe of the booth, making him look up to find three girls standing there, weapons on their backs, letting him know they were likely the ones he was waiting for, prompting him to study them carefully.

The first was a beautiful blond girl looking at him curiously. Her hair reached he shoulders, and she had blue eyes and a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her figure was nice and well proportioned, with decently sized breasts and a flat belly atop a slim waist. She was dressed in jeans and a grey top that left part of her stomach bare, covered by a small leather coat meant more for fashion than as actual protection from the cold.

The next girl was the one of the darkest skinned people Ranma had ever met. She was grinning excitedly, revealing pearly white teeth, her brown eyes practically sparkling like an anime character's in a pretty face that would attract more than one man. Her chocolate brown hair was long, reaching between her shoulder blades, though it was likely longer when straight rather than curly as it was now. She was dressed in white short shorts and a blue top with the Superman symbol on it. She had the largest breasts of the three girls, and her arms and legs were well muscled, showing she exercised extensively.

The last, and most nervous looking, of the girls was Asian. Ranma was pretty sure she was Korean, and considering she looked healthy and well fed, he guessed South Korean. She was very attractive as well, will large green eyes and pale skin. Combined with the lustrous, waist length black hair, she fit what the Japanese called a yamato nadeshiko. She was the least busty of the three at a high A-cup at most, and the rest of her body was just as slim. She clothes were slightly tattered, a white cropped top and short skirt, and she was quite obviously not wearing a bra. From looking at her clothes he thought she might be from a lower income home, but he couldn't be sure.

"So, you're the ones the three factions assigned to my team, huh?" He said after his analysis was done and he'd swallowed his food. He motioned them into the seat across from him. "Take a seat. Name's Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

The three slid onto the seat, the black girl sitting against the wall, the blonde in the middle, and the Korean at the end. He motioned over for the waitress to come over. "Order yourself a drink and some food." He said as menus were handed out. "This is probably going to be a long conversation. No reason we can't be comfortable while having it."

The girls looked at the options as the waitress moved away to attend another table while they decided, the blond looking slightly forlorn. "I don't think I can eat any of this. I need to watch my figure." She said in an American accent.

Ranma looked at her incredulously. How long had this girl been a Bee? This was one of those basic things all Bees knew, especially the women. "You do know you can have whatever you want and not worry about gaining weight, right?" All three girls suddenly looked at him intently, making Ranma sweatdrop. "Once you become a Bee, your abilities will keep you in good shape. You'll need to actually exercise for muscle mass, but you won't become overweight. Any excess is converted directly into anima for you to use."

The blonde's eyes lit up with glee and she eagerly went back to her menu, scouring it intently. In the meantime the Korean girl spoke up next, her voice timid and lightly accented, reinforcing Ranma's assumptions about her. "What did you mean, when we become a Bee? What does that mean?"

Ranma stared at her before glancing at the other girls, who also looked curious. "How long ago did you get your powers and join your societies…?" He asked slowly.

The black girl spoke now with a London accent. "I got my superpowers a week ago, and joined the Templars today. Just got my weapon an hour ago and everything."

As Ranma gawked at her the blonde turned to her with surprise. "Really? Same thing with me. I woke up and incinerated my favorite robe a week ago, and I ended up with the Illuminati today. This is my first assignment."

"Um, the same is true for me. I only just met my superiors about an hour ago." Korean girl said softly.

Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "So you're telling me that all three of you are utter and complete newbies to The Secret World?" He let out a breath after all three nodded. "Alright, guess this talk is going to be longer than I thought…" He said as the waitress returned to take their orders.

As the girls ordered their food Ranma sat back in thought. On the one hand, this gave him a few problems. He was now responsible for complete amateurs who probably didn't know how to even use their weapons, not to mention anything else about their abilities or the Secret World itself. He'd need to keep a closer eye on them to make sure one of them didn't die due to their inexperience.

On the other hand, this eliminated one of his biggest worries about this new venture of his. If this was the first day they'd been part of their respective factions, then that meant that they didn't have any of the acquired biases and grudges more experienced agents would have. He had a chance to turn this into a well-functioning unit without any worries about backstabbing and inter-faction politics getting in the way. It was perfect.

He smiled and sipped his beer as the waitress left with their orders, the girls turning back to him. "Alright, first of all, let's start introductions. Name, age, likes, dislikes, and what you were doing and hoping to do with your lives before this all happened to you. After that I'll explain what we're doing, and then I'll answer any questions you might have regarding your powers and The Secret World in general. Sound good?" The girls nodded, so he took another sip. "Good, I'll go first then."

"As I said, the name's Ranma Saotome. I'm twenty-five. I enjoy pretty much anything dealing with martial arts, from movies to manga, seeing as I've studied the Art since I was a toddler. I dislike assholes that can't take a hint and people bent on world domination. You'll meet more than one throughout your careers, trust me." He grinned at the looks on their faces. "Before I became a Bee I was going to high-school while studying martial arts, aiming to become a grandmaster by the time I reached thirty. Beyond that I didn't really have much of an ambition. Since I became a Bee I joined the Council of Venice as a field agent, rising through the ranks till I could use my influence to set up this little team of ours." He shrugged then. "That's the basics about me. Now, who wants to go next?"

The black girl raised her hand eagerly. "Ooh, ooh, I'll go next!" At Ranma's nod she started talking with a grin. He could already tell she was very much a genki girl. "My name's Amanda Hall. I'll be eighteen in two weeks. I love computers, comics, and video games. I don't like avocados and really don't like way too serious people. You should try to enjoy your life, y'know?" She paused as the waitress came back with their food and another beer for Ranma, nodding her thanks. Then she continued. "I'm a professional white hat hacker. That means I work for companies by testing their defenses and reporting any vulnerabilities so they can fix them. I've done work for everyone from Google to Orochi." She looked supremely proud of that fact, and Ranma couldn't help the impressed eyebrow that rose. "As for what I wanted to do, I dunno, really. I already had a good paying job, and had everything I needed. Now that I've got superpowers though…" She bounced happily, which did interesting things to her chest. "I'm looking forward to helping people."

Ranma chuckled and nodded. "Sounds like you've got a very useful skillset. I've learned some computer basics, but nothing in depth, so someone that can hack systems and the like will be very helpful to the group. Glad to have you, Amanda." Amanda nodded happily and began to tuck into her food when she saw her part was over. Ranma then turned to the blonde. "Alright, how about you next?"

The girl nodded and set her fork down, taking a quick sip of her Bingo cola. "Alright. My name is Elizabeth McClane. You can all call me Liz though, since it looks like we're going to be working together for a while. I just turned twenty. I like movies, mostly adventure ones. I don't like guys that just try to get in my pants, or being ordered around." Ranma almost chuckled. He really couldn't see her enjoying being a grunt in the Illuminati then. Liz continued. "I've been working as an amateur model and doing well enough. I've been trying to break through to go pro, and I think I was making progress but then…" She shrugged with a sigh. "Well, you know."

Ranma nodded. Not every Bee was initially happy to be one like Amanda was, after all. He imagined some perks of the status would help change her mind though. "I understand. You're Illuminati, right?" Liz nodded. "You'll probably still end up doing modeling work then."

Liz looked curious. "What? Why?"

"The Illuminati have agents in every industry." He explained. "I can see them having you do some work as a model in between your duties to this squad. You'll probably get better jobs off the bat thanks to them too."

Liz looked interested at that. "Really? Well, that sleazy talent shark that recruited me did say I could have a chance to be big… I just figured it was a line."

Ranma shook his head. "No, he probably wasn't lying. Just keep in mind that they'll use you to serve their purposes, not the other way around." Liz nodded thoughtfully and went back to her food as Ranma turned to the last of his new subordinates. "Alright, one more. How about it?"

The Korean girl nodded hesitantly as she nibbled on her grilled fish. "U-um, my name is Cheon Chun Hei. I am twenty-one. I enjoy painting, novels, and K-dramas. I dislike it when stories make sudden changes that make no sense. I was in university studying art. I wanted to find a good man to marry and be a housewife to while painting as well."

"What, really?" Liz asked Chun Hei, an eyebrow raised. "That's it? Be a housewife and paint?"

Chun Hei frowned, though she shrunk a bit in her seat. "I don't think simple dreams are bad…" She murmured.

"I agree." Ranma said, smiling kindly at Chun Hei. "If it's what makes you happy and it doesn't hurt anybody else, then I don't see what's wrong with it." Chun Hei blushed prettily at Ranma's words, averting her gaze with a murmured "Thank you".

Liz sighed before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess." Then she turned back to Ranma. "So, what now?"

"Alright, I don't know how much your superiors have told you of what we're doing, so I'll explain." He took another sip of his beer. "Ever since the Tokyo disaster, occult activity has been on the rise. There have been a lot of supernatural events that have gotten close to being huge disasters. I decided to create a mixed faction team to help deal with these issues. It's not like it's the first time it's been done, it's just the first time it's official instead of just a bunch of Bee's getting together to deal with a greater threat in the field before disbanding again. Our job is to go into hotspots and deal with whatever crisis is happening, trying to at least keep it from getting worse. I'm hoping to eventually get us access to Tokyo so we can find out exactly what's happening, but nobody is going in now. It's under a complete lockdown. Understand?" At the girls' nods he continued. "Alright, I promised to answer your questions, and as newbies I imagine you have a lot, so lay em on me."

"You keep calling us 'Bees'." Liz said, jumping in immediately. "Why?"

"That's what we're commonly known as." Ranma said. "We got our power when Gaia sent one of her bee constructs into our bodies to empower us. You probably remember waking up the day you got your powers with the taste of honey in your mouth."

Liz was gaping at him, so Amanda was the one to ask the next question. "So wait, I got superpowers because I swallowed a magical bee?"

Ranma shrugged. "Basically. But anyway, that's why various groups call Gaia empowered people 'Bees'. It's even an official term used by some governments."

The girls glanced at each other, taking that in, before turning back to him. Amanda once again asked the next question. "Alright, what's the Council of Venice you work for?"

Ranma set his drink down. "Well, I'm not really an expert. Never really cared too much. But I know the basics." He crossed his arms. "The secret societies that you belong to, as well as other, more minor ones, have been fighting for ages. I mean that literally. We're talking thousands of years." The girls leaned forward, interested. "A couple thousand years ago they got into a huge fight, known as the Battle of Armageddon. It was such a huge clusterfuck that they almost woke something up."

"What was it?" Chun Hei asked quietly, enraptured.

Ranma shrugged. "I'm not sure. Details are vague, and I never really looked into it too deeply. But it was definitely on the 'end the world in blood and screams' end of the scale. So, seeing as they only barely avoided a huge disaster, all the factions agreed that there needed to be some sort of oversight. They all got together in Jerusalem and formed what is now called the Council of Venice." He picked up his beer and took a sip. "The Council's main job is to make sure the factions don't fight each other unless it's in an approved place and time, and making sure the Secret World stays, well, secret. They have this list of all the things that need to be kept from normal people, and they're adding to it all the time as new things are discovered."

"Soo… they're like a magical UN?" Liz asked.

"Basically, except with even more bureaucracy." He shook his head in disgust. "I may work for the Council, but I know it's got issues. It can barely get anything done nowadays. I'm trying to help change it, but I'm relatively new. It was a fight just to get this team approved. But, if this goes well, I'll have a lot more pull." He smiled. "So I hope we can all work together well."

"What sorts of abilities does being a Bee give us beyond letting us use anima and eat as much as we want?" Amanda asked, smiling eagerly.

"Well…" Ranma began. "We're basically immortal."

Chun Hei gasped as Liz's eyes grew wide. "W-wh-what!?" The blond asked.

"We can get burned to a crisp, shot, stabbed, and many other things, and just walk it off. If we, say, get our heads cut off or drown or anything else that overwhelms or bypasses our durability, we'll wind up as ghosts for a short time till we rematerialize at what's called an Anima Well, which is basically an area where Gaia's energy comes up from the ground. The only way to really kill us for good would be destroying out body into its base elements. Even Gaia can't help us then. But it's very rare for that to happen." Ranma sat back and enjoyed the looks of shock on their faces.

"Wow…" Amanda said, stunned. "So if I got my arm cut off…"

"You'd be perfectly fine after a short time and a visit to an Anima Well, yeah." Ranma said. "Because of it, Bees tend to be thrill seekers. There's lots of things you can do when you don't have to worry about dying. Some Bees develop some really weird fetishes as a result too." He looked up as he remembered some of the freakier girls he'd dated.

"And we end up as ghosts?" Chun Hei asked timidly.

Ranma nodded. "Before we reform at an Anima Well we spend some time in a spirit form. When out in the field sometimes Bees commit suicide for intelligence gathering. In spirit form you can go into areas you usually couldn't while alive, speak to actual ghosts, and see things living eyes can't. You might be called to do the same thing sometime to accomplish your goals." All three girls looked disturbed at that, which was understandable. He'd been more than unnerved himself.

"Anything else?" The girls looked at each other before turning back to him and shaking their heads. "Good. In that case we should prepare ourselves to head out on our first mission." He pulled a map from the bag he had on the seat beside him and set it on the table, showing it was of the New England area of the US. He pointed at a small island that was circled in red. "This is our destination. It's called Solomon Island. Something bad's happened there, though details are scarce. The place is under quarantine, but not by the government's doing. Something is keeping people from getting in or out. Thankfully we can get in through Agartha. There is a military presence on the island… somehow. Not to mention Orochi observers and members of your factions doing their own investigations. Our primary job is finding out what's going on and stopping it before it spreads. Secondary objective is to help the survivors of whatever's happening. Any questions?"

Amanda raised her hand. "Do we know what's going on?"

Ranma shook his head. "Only info I've gotten is that an unnatural fog came in from the sea and brought something with it. Most of the population of the island is either dead or dying." He looked at them. Liz looked worried, Chun Hei was obviously scared and trembling lightly, while Amanda was trying to hide her own nerves under a veneer of determination. He pulled the map back before turning to look at Chun Hei. "We need to talk about your clothes."

Said girl looked down at what she was wearing before blushing and hunching down. "I… this is just what I normally wear around the house. The Dragon didn't give me time to change before… bringing me in…" She said softly.

Ranma raised an eyebrow but let it go. "Well, you need something better for field work. Amanda, you too. I'd feel better if you at least had something to protect your legs. It isn't as much a matter of protection but comfort. Last thing we need is you getting distracted because your legs are scratched up from branches or bitten by insects."

Amanda looked down at her short shorts before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess. I don't suppose we have time for me to go to my flat and change?"

Ranma shook his head. "No. We'll go out and do some shopping before we head into Agartha. I'll cover it. We need to buy some other essentials anyway. Done eating?" The girls nodded, so Ranma slid out of his seat, picking up his bag and throwing it over his shoulder before heading to the waitress, pulling out his wallet. After he'd paid he led them down the street to a fancy looking clothing store. He turned towards the girls. "Alright, this isn't a shopping spree. Chun Hei, get some sturdy, protective clothes. I'd recommend a sports bra too. We'll be very active. Amanda, at least some longer pants. And a coat might be good too. I'll be waiting here." The girls nodded and headed into the store, associates quickly swooping in to assist.

Ranma turned to Liz, who was looking around in interest. "You know you can go and help them pick something out, right?"

Liz glanced at him before shaking her head. "No, I'm good." She pulled out her phone and began to fiddle with it as she waited. Ranma, not wanting to get bored, pulled out his portable gaming system and started playing Chrono Trigger for the tenth time. He paused when Liz spoke however. "I'm… not so sure about this. I can fire a gun, but I've never been in a fight. And I don't have any other useful skills. Not like Amanda does. I can't imagine being able to pose in lingerie is a very helpful ability against monsters."

Ranma couldn't help it. He laughed. "Oh, you'd be surprised at how helpful being sexy can be." He chuckled a bit more under Liz's slightly indignant gaze. "Look, how many Bees do you think started out with combat training? I'll tell you, not very many. I'm one of the few I've met that had even been in a serious fight before becoming a Bee. But everybody learns quickly enough. Gaia didn't just choose you for your looks. You have plenty of potential. Even I can see it. You just need to give yourself a chance. And besides…" He smiled his lady-killer smile. "I'll be here to teach you every step of the way."

Liz looked away to hide her light blush. "Thanks…"

They each busied themselves with their own things for another ten minutes before the other girls returned. Amanda now wore jeans of the same color as her shorts had been and a red coat, while Chun Hei wore some black leggings under a green skirt and a black top with a green phoenix stitched on it under a leather coat.

Ranma looked them over before smiling in approval. "That looks good on you two, and seems functional. I approve. Let me just pay and we'll go finish shopping." He made his way towards the cashier with the attendants that had helped the girls and quickly paid for the purchases before returning. "Alright, one last place to go."

Ranma led the girls down the streets of London before turning into a dark side area full of stalls with various weird odds and ends. The girls looked around, curious. "Where are we?" Amanda asked.

"We are in the Haitian Market. One of the best places to shop for all your occult needs." He said as he led them past a man that had covered himself in clothing so completely not an inch of skin could be seen, dark tinted goggles watching him. "Er, keep away from Kolyat. He's generally rather cranky, especially when he hasn't had a blood pack."

"B-blood pack?" Chun Hei asked, but Ranma didn't seem to notice, leading them to a stand behind which was a being that made all three girls tense.

It was some sort of monster, hunched over and covered in short, brown fur with black streaks. It stood on two long, spindly legs and had long, thin arms ending in clawed hands. It gazed at them with beady black eyes, its snout partly open, revealing razor sharp teeth.

Rather than be alarmed, Ranma smiled. "Dante! How's it going man?"

The beast, Dante, snarled something back with what looked like a smile.

"That's great. Listen, I want your biggest order of tacos, with extra hot sauce. I'm going on assignment with some newbies to a location that probably doesn't have a lot of options for food. Think you could help me out?" Ranma smiled happily.

Dante nodded with a chuffing sound and turned to a portable grill, quickly getting to work making tacos.

"Thanks a ton, man. I'll go finush shopping and I'll pick em up in a bit. See you soon." Ranma turned, grinned at the dumbstruck girls, and motioned for them to follow as he headed into a better lit area of the Market.

Liz hurried to walk beside him. "What… What was that?"

"That's Dante, and he makes the best tacos this side of Mexico. Don't let him being a ghoul get to you, he's a pretty nice guy." He led the way to a store with a sign reading 'House of Chalk' and walked in. "Mambo, Houngan! How are two of my favorite people?"

The black haired woman in a purple dress and scarf smiled at the sight of Ranma as the girls filed in behind him. "Hello Ranma. Your usual order?"

"Yeah. I'm going back out, so I might need some more reagents." He then turned towards the man. "Houngan, buddy, any chance you could spot me some of that King's Bone?"

Houngan hesitated. "I don't know, man. Most of it's reserved…"

That's when the girls had their next shock of the day. Ranma moved toward Houngan, and between one step and the next, he changed. He shrank down by about a foot, his hair turned blood red, and his body became curvier in a way that made it obvious that 'he' had now become a 'she'.

The large breasts on her chest hammered the point home even further.

"Houngan, my good friend…" Ranma practically purred. "Are you sure you couldn't spare one or two shards? I'm not asking for your entire stock. Promise." She leaned forward slightly, arms crossed in front of her, emphasizing her bust, which was straining the white silk shirt.

Houngan tried to look away, but finally he caved. "Gah! Dammit, fine! Two shards! No more!" He turned and made his way to a small, black lacquered box, muttering to himself.

Mambo was laughing into her hand, eyes twinkling with mirth. "You'd think he'd have learned not to fall for that anymore…"

Ranma winked at her, standing up straight now, no longer emphasizing her looks. "What can I say? I'm just too damn sexy for anyone's good."

Mambo laughed further as she handed a small bag to Ranma in exchange for several odd golden coins with a strange symbol on them. Ranma put his purchases in his bag before Houngan forced a tiny, velvet bag into her hands with a scowl. "Here. Now leave, damn you."

Ranma simply grinned. "Nice doing business with ya. See you around later, guys." She turned back to the door, walking past the girls. "C'mon ladies. We've still got shopping to do."

The girls stood staring for a few moments before rushing out after Ranma. Chun Hei was the first to reach her this time. "W-wh-wha…?"

"Chinese curse I got when I was sixteen." Ranma said nonchalantly. "Used to be an involuntary change, but when I became a Bee it became something I could control. And before you ask, I'm naturally a _straight_ man. And my mind doesn't change with my body. So in this form you can consider me a hard lesbian. Got it?"

The girls nodded, still obviously very weirded out. Oddly enough, Chun Hei seemed to be taking it the easiest of the three now that it had been explained. The other two were still having trouble with it.

As they walked through the market for the next ten minutes they saw that the residents were well used to Ranma, who shifted forms a couple more times before finally stopping to become male again when they returned to Dante's stand, picking up a large bag full to the brim with tacos. "Thanks man. Here's a little extra for getting them ready so quickly." He handed Dante more of the gold coins.

As the ghoul waved them off and Ranma stuck the mass of tacos into his bag, much to the girls' confusion, Amanda asked a question that had been bugging her. "Ranma, what was that you were paying those people with?"

"That? That was the Secret World's currency, Pax Romana. It's been in use for a long time. Not sure if your handlers mentioned it, but as you complete assignments for your factions, you'll be paid in both regular cash and Pax. So the more work you do, the more money of both types you get. Some places only accept Pax, and otherwise it's a universal currency to those in the know."

"Wait, we get paid!?" Liz asked, surprised.

Ranma looked at her oddly. "Of course you do. You're doing work for your factions, after all. And this team gets a stipend from the Council that I'm in charge of too."

Liz blushed, realizing it should have been obvious that she'd be paid. Still, she hadn't really considered it, with everything that had been going on. As she glanced to the side she saw that she wasn't the only one that hadn't considered it. Chun Hei looked relieved, and Amanda was grinning happily.

Ranma led the team down to the Agartha portal. "Alright, everybody ready? It's time to get to work." As he saw the girls nod he grinned. "Good, let's go then." And without hesitation, he stepped into Agartha, followed quickly by the girls.

* * *

 ** _Finally, the chapter I'd been wanting to get to. Happy to have reached it._**

 ** _I didn't want to use the cliché 'Kuno/Happosai/Gosunkugi banish Ranma with a random spell/scroll' for Ranma's departure from his home world. So instead I set up an epic battle against a demon lord alongside Sailor Moon and Tenchi. Hope everybody like that detail. It likely won't play a part going forward, but I might write a oneshot one day about what happened. We'll see how things go._**

 ** _I actually hadn't decided on most of the girls' looks/backstories until shortly before writing this. I hope the choices I made are pleasing._**

 ** _On a related not, I know jack all about fashion. I'm a man in my early thirties who wears jeans and graphic tees all the time. So if you didn't think the girls' outfits were good, sorry._**

 ** _I realize Ranma might seem a bit OOC to some. Please keep in mind he's had seven years of character development with a curse he can control and a position of responsibility where's he's been forced to learn at least a little diplomacy. That and, at least at first, he was trying to make a good impression on the girls as their new boss. He still has foot in the mouth disease, though he's taking meds for that, so it probably won't be as prominent. Otherwise, he's still Ranma._**

 ** _Can't think of anything else to talk about. Now that I've reached this point on this story, I'm leaving it be for a while to work on other stuff. It's not going to be a priority, honestly. I mostly wrote this because the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone. I'll definitely get to it in the future, but it might be a while. Hope you enjoy my other stuff, though._**

 ** _Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and please review._**


	5. First Steps

When the newly minted team arrived in Agartha, Ranma walked up to one of the enormous mechanical custodians to ask for directions to one of the Solomon Island exits. After getting the directions he needed he waved the girls over as he began walking.

The girls followed him closely as they looked around in awe, Amanda more than the others, studying Agartha. She was the first to speak, eyes practically sparkling as they wandered around. "Ranma, what exactly is this place?"

Ranma glanced back as he walked along one of the wide, thick branches. "This, ladies, is Agartha, the Hollow Earth. Don't ask me for a detailed explanation, I honestly don't know. It's sort of another realm inside the Earth. Distance isn't the same here as it is outside, which lets us Bees travel around the globe in short amounts of time. You could walk between opposite ends of the planet in minutes." He smirked. "Beats the hell out of flying coach."

"What about that?" Chun Hei asked as she pointed at the hollowed out tree trunk with many branches linking to it she'd noticed earlier. She could see quite a few people wandering around on and in it.

"That's a hub." Ranma explained. "Basically it's a place for Bees to relax and interact, as well as do some shopping. There's a restaurant and bar, a dance club, shops, and the auction house."

"A restaurant?" Chun Hei asked curiously.

"Shops?" Liz asked eagerly, a glint in her eye.

"An auction house?" Amanda asked, confused.

"It's a good restaurant." Ranma assured Chun Hei before turning to Liz. "Yeah, lots of shops, including ones that sell specialty magical items and potions, like drinks that boost your durability for a short time. Pretty useful when you're starting out. Feel free to stop by once you get paid." Then he turned to Amanda. "Sometimes Bees find items out in the field that their factions don't want and they don't need, like a magical weapon that isn't compatible with their fighting style. In that case they'll put it up for sale in the auction house to make some Pax. It's pretty useful when you want to upgrade your gear, though the prices can get absurd."

After some more talking and questions Ranma finally stopped in front of one of the many glowing portals they'd been passing. An image wavered like a mirage, showing autumn leaves and some quaint houses. "Alright, this is our stop. The portal the town of Kingsmouth on Solomon Island." He stretched, cracking his neck. "You girls ready? We'll probably be seeing combat soon after we step through it."

The girls glanced at each other before nodding, some more hesitant than others. Amanda turned to look at Ranma. "We're ready, boss."

Ranma smiled before turning and walking through the portal, disappearing with a flash of golden light. Taking a deep breath, the girls soon did the same.

When they arrived on the other side the realized they were in a small tunnel filled with the branches and roots they recognized from the other Agartha portals, with golden bees buzzing around a beehive hanging from the ceiling of the cave.

Spotting Ranma now standing outside the cave they quickly followed him out. They were surprised to find that he was now armed. On his back he had an item that looked like a jade shield that glowed slightly with an eerie light, strapped much like Chun Hei's Blood Magic focus book. At his hips he had a pair of semi-auto pistols, and he had gloves with Wolverine like claws on his hands. All in all, he looked ready to handle pretty much anything.

"Well, this is kinda weird." He said, tapping his feet on what the girls realized was the practically petrified wood of a viking longboat that was somehow partially buried in the rock, forming the exit of the tunnel.

Liz hopped down from the boat and looked at it. "Yeah, definitely weird." Something glowing off to the side caught her eye and she turned. "Ranma, what's that?"

Ranma looked before smiling. "Ah, that's something important you need to take note of whenever you see one." He vaulted over the side of the ancient boat and stood in the fountain of light that emanated from the ground, phantom golden bees buzzing around it. "This, ladies, is an Anima Well. Most don't notice them, but we can see the energy pouring out of them because of what we are." He smiled at the feeling of the energy empowering him. "I told you before that when our bodies take too much damage, we will be rebuilt at an Anima Well after a short while in spirit form. We can stay in spirit form as long as we want, though, as long as we move ourselves away from the well. I've told you why that can be useful." He stepped away from the well. "So make note of any Well you come across, just in case."

The three girls nodded, though all three still looked disturbed at him talking about them dying like it was something they should be expecting.

Ranma began leading the way between the rocks down to the road they could see nearby. They paused when they heard the crack of gunfire disturb the still night. He pursed his lips. "Well, that's not a good sign…" He sighed before continuing to walk.

Before long they approached a tent that someone had set up to the side of the small path they were taking, a fire crackling with a small pot full of beans hanging over it. Sitting on a log by the fire, stirring the beans, was a man dressed like a cowboy. Boots, jeans, coat, and Stetson, an old Winchester lever-action, with black hair and beard and intelligent eyes.

He looked up at them as they approached, his gaze roaming over them. "Don't worry, kids." He said with a smoker's gravelly voice and a smile. "You haven't gone back in time. I just happen to be the last of the cowboys."

Ranma took a seat by the fire. "What's cookin?" He asked.

"A nice, Southern welcome." The man responded with a small chuckle. "Mesquite beans, Texas style."

Ranma smiled as the girls stood around a bit awkwardly. "Last time I ate that was when I was San Antonio."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you know that good oughta face evil on a full stomach." The cowboy said as he stoked the fire with a long stick. He looked up at the girls, eyebrow raised, before turning back to Ranma. "Name's Boone. I'm a troubleshooter."

Ranma nodded. "Ranma, Council of Venice. Same. This is my new team. Amanda, Templars. Chun Hei, Dragon. Elizabeth, Illuminati."

Boone raised his other eyebrow. "Huh. Didn't think they were all the type to team up."

Ranma shrugged. "It's an experiment."

"Yours?" Boone reached over to stir the beans some more as Ranma nodded before spooning some into some small travel bowls, handing one to Ranma, who immediately began eating, and offering the others to the girls. Amanda took hers quickly, having a spoonful with with a smile. Liz and Chun Hei were a bit more hesitant, but soon enough everyone was eating some beans. "Well, bout time, if you ask me. Sure, you can be divided in purpose, but we gotta stand united against darkness."

"Couldn't agree more." Ranma said, licking his lips as Amanda nodded in agreement.

"Well, this ain't my first rodeo. I know we're gonna need all the unity we can get." The cowboy said as he began to eat as well. "Don't mean to say you've stepped into Hell, but when the wind blows west, you can just about smell the brimstone."

Ranma's face became serious as he set his now empty bowl down. "What do you know about what's happened?"

Boone shrugged. "All we know is death and fog came from the sea, or someone brought it back with them." He put a spoonful of beans in his mouth and ate it before continuing. "If I was a gambling man, I'd put money on that someone still being around."

Ranma crossed his arms and leaned back, thinking. "From the sea, eh? That could be lots of things…"

"Well, there's a bunch of survivors holed up in Kingsmouth town." Boone said after another spoonful of beans. "That's your best bet. Follow that main road…" He motioned to the road twenty feet away, illuminated by streetlights and the moon. Now that they looked, they could see several crashed or abandoned vehicles. "…and the sound of gunfire, you'll come to the sheriff's office."

Then he looked at each of them seriously before his gaze stopped on Ranma. "Whatever ya'lls reasons for being here, find out what those people died for." His gaze sharpened. "And you bring a _reckoning._ "

Ranma looked just as serious. "That's the plan." Then he looked around. "Alright, so, anything nasty we need to worry about beyond the Romeros I see standing around the road?"

The girls blinked, looking back at the road, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Chun Hei was the first to notice, and she gasped. Liz and Amanda turned to look at where her gaze was directed before their eyes widened, the blonde muttering "Are you fucking kidding me?" under her breath.

Standing around an overturned car, lightly swaying, were what could only be the classic movie zombie. Rotting flesh, dead eyes, wounds indicating no chance of actual survival... Really, the three couldn't figure out how they hadn't noticed them before.

Boone shrugged. "They're the main issue here and in the town, though there have been other things roaming, far as I can tell. Mainly near the coast. These things ain't dangerous alone, but don't get surrounded. And they don't stay down. I'll shoot em in the head, but eventually they'll get back up." He glanced at Ranma. "You figure out what makes em tick and how to make that ticking stop, I'll buy you a beer at the Apocalypse. Everyone deserves their six feet."

Ranma stood up, stretching. "Yeah, I agree. We'll handle as many as we can on our way to the police station. These girls need some combat experience anyway. It's their first time out, after all."

Boone tipped his hat to them as the girls set their empty bowls down. "Alright, get going then." He smirked humorously. "The end of the world waits for no man."

Ranma walked a few feet away from Boon's camp as the man spooned himself some more beans, stopping not far away from a group of zombies. "Alright ladies, time for your first taste of combat. I'll stand back and let you handle it so you can get a feel for things, though I'll step in if things look like they're going bad. Don't need you dying yet. Ready yourselves."

Amanda and Liz unslung their weapons, gripping them tightly with nerves. Chun Hei hesitantly held a hand out, red energy growing in and seeming to drip to the ground like ethereal blood, which was appropriate considering it was blood magic.

Ranma quickly snapped out some further instructions. "Amanda, move a bit in front of Liz so you can intercept any incoming zombies. Chun Hei, move behind Liz so you can see the both of them in case you need to perform healing. Liz, you start shooting them before they notice us. Remember that the weapon is a conduit for your will, so try an area of effect spread of bullets so you can hit all of them at once."

The three girls nodded and did as they were told before getting ready to fight. Liz brought her rifle up, hands shaking slightly from nerves, before she began to fire.

As Ranma said she focused the stream of bullets into a wide spread, hitting three of the four zombies. They staggered as they were hit before all four of them turned and advanced on their attacker at a much greater speed than any of the girls were expecting.

Amanda almost didn't react in time, bringing her hammer up to smash into the chest of the leading zombie, staggering it. She managed to swing again when another one tried to dash passed, stopping it even as Liz fired on the third.

Chun Hei began hesitantly using what little knowledge of blood magic she had, launching balls of red energy at the last zombie, staggering it. She gained a bit more confidence as she saw it was working, continuing to attack.

Ranma studied the fight with a critical eye. So far, they weren't doing too badly for a first time, though he could see many things that he'd have to work on fixing. Some wrinkles would be smoothed out as they continued fighting together, getting used to each other's styles and ways of thinking. Others would require his intervention.

Amanda suddenly cried out. Two of the zombies had gone down and were no longer moving, and she was focusing on bringing down a third one. Thus she was distracted when the last one ignored Liz and Chun Hei's attacks and latched onto her, its teeth sinking into her arm. She managed to fight it off, slamming her hammer into its head, pulping it, before she turned to fend off the last zombie.

Ranma moved over to Chun Hei, who's eyes were wide as she watched Amanda bleed, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Focus, Chun Hei. Your magic can be used as much for healing as for attacking. Focus your energies on mending Amanda's body and send your energy to her."

Chun Hei took a deep breath as Liz finally brought the zombie down with a three round burst to the head. She focused as Ranma told her and launched a ball of red energy at Amanda.

Amanda turned, shocked as she thought for moment that Chun Hei was attacking her. When the energy hit her, however, she felt an odd sensation in her arm as the wound began to slowly close till all that was left was the blood as evidence of what had happened. The hacker studied her arm before looking up at Chun Hi with a smile. "Thanks."

Chun Hei blushed lightly and ducked her head, nodding. Ranma clapped his hands. "Alright girls, that wasn't bad for a first fight. There's room for improvement, but that's to be expected. How are you feeling?"

Liz held her rifle pointed down as she let herself relax. "It's more tiring than I thought, considering I just aimed and pulled the trigger."

Ranma nodded. "That's partly from the stress of combat, which you'll hopefully become somewhat used to, and partly from the fact that you're shooting your own anima. You'll need to learn to gauge how much you've got left in the tank, though your ability and reserves will grow the stronger you become."

"Like leveling up in a video game!" Amanda chirped brightly as she wiped the blood off her arm.

Ranma chuckled. "Something like that." Then he became serious again. "Alright, now that you know what to expect, we'll begin making our way up to the police station Boone told us about. We'll kill any zombies we come across so you three can get some more experience, and so we can lower the monster population, which will definitely help the locals."

The three girls nodded firmly, and thus the group set out up the road.

For the next fifteen minutes the girls fought anything that they saw on Ranma's orders. They slowly began to improve, learning to communicate with each other on enemy positions and requests for support. Their leader smiled proudly as he watched their teamwork begin taking form.

Trouble came when Liz bumped into one of the abandoned cars as she tried to get into position to better fill a zombie with holes. The loud screeching beeps of a car alarm pierced the air. Immediately a group of six zombies rushed out from among the trees to reinforce the two the girls were already fighting.

Chun Hei gasped as two of them rushed her, getting ready to try to rip her to shreds. She launched a burst of magic, making one of them pause, but the other was dangerously close. Panicking, she flailed, trying to keep it away. Just as it was about to grab her a pistol shot rang out and a hole appeared in the zombie's skull.

Ranma looked at his subordinate as he holstered his pistol. "Keep situational awareness, Chun Hei. I won't always be available to bail you out."

Chun Hei nodded meekly and turned to take down the remaining zombies.

It took a few more minutes, and Chun Hei was left healing the girls of some injuries before they all resumed walking. Ranma quirked an eyebrow as they did so. "So, what have we learned from this, ladies?"

"Car alarms suck ass?" Liz asked sarcastically.

"We've known that since the eighties." Ranma said, waving the comment off. "No, what I was getting at is to be aware of environmental factors. You never know what's around that could affect your fight." He spotted something up ahead. "And I don't just mean things that could cause problems." He pointed at a gas can next to another abandoned car that had the red light of a car alarm blinking in the windshield. "Amanda, go jump on that car. Liz, get ready to shoot the gas can. When you do, imagine your bullets have a burning effect like phosphorus rounds."

The girls, catching on to what Ranma was suggesting, quickly did as told. Once Amanda had checked that Liz was ready, she jumped on the car's hood, setting off the alarm. Almost immediately a group of five zombies began to rush at her from the trees.

Liz immediately fired a burning shot at the gas can, which exploded, spreading its burning contents around, including on the zombies. Amanda yelped as the fire almost hit her legs, but swung her hammer to fend off the now burning corpses, Liz and Chun Hei quickly joining in.

The zombies dropped quickly this time, the fire obviously taking its toll, and Ranma stepped forward, smiling despite the scent of burning rotten meat, which was making the girls gag. "There, see? You used the environment to your advantage and made the fight a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. Make sure you keep all of that in mind."

The girls nodded as they got control of their urge to vomit. "Yes sir." They said.

He began walking again. "Let's go. I think we're almost there."

They continued moving forward, killing every zombie they spotted, of which there were many. They'd kept going for another ten minutes when Ranma spotted something. There was a group of zombies eating a corpse off the side of the road, behind a tree. There was something off about it, however. "Girls, deal with those zombies so we can check on what they're eating."

The girls did as they were told, though they were curious about why he wanted to check on a corpse that, as far as they could tell, wasn't any different than the zombies.

Before long the zombies were dead (again), and Ranma was kneeling beside the body. Chun Hei looked away while Liz swallowed heavily and Amanda looked grim. They'd been fighting zombies for a half hour, but it was somewhat easy to disassociate from them since they were moving and attacking. It hadn't sunken in that they were fighting and killing what used to be people. Now, however, they were staring at what was clearly the corpse of a girl of about Amanda's age, her body mangled and broken. It brought things home. None of them knew why Ranma was so interested in the body, though.

Ranma, for his part, studied the corpse with a practiced eye, taking in the limbs that had been broken like twigs and the way the chest had been crushed, caved in till it resembled a bowl. "This wasn't done by the zombies we just fought." He said, catching the girls' attention as they listened attentively. "They aren't strong enough to do this kind of damage. They can cause cuts and bites, but not crush bone unless they fall on you at an awkward angle. This was something strong."

"Maybe an animal? Like a bear?" Chun Hei asked.

Ranma considered it. "Possible, though I don't see any bear tracks. We'll need to-" He was interrupted by a loud, grumbling roar from deeper in the treeline. The four turned their heads to find out what made the sound, the girls' eyes widening as Ranma's narrowed.

Lumbering towards them was a huge monster. It had obviously started out human much in the same way the Incredible Hulk had. It was now a huge mass of misshapen, putrid muscle clad only in some tattered pants. Its eyes were dead just like all the normal zombies, its mouth was lipless, exposing its surprisingly pristine teeth, and it was completely bald, showing that flaps of skin had been scraped off and were hanging precariously, exposing its fractured skull.

Catching sight of the group (somehow), the abomination roared again and began rushing them. The girls scrambled for their weapons, their forms shaking, and aimed at the thing.

Just before it could reach them, however, Ranma darted forward, claws on his hands. The girls gaped as he leaped up like a jungle cat, all deadly grace, and before they could blink he landed behind the hulking monster, crouched slightly before he stood up, cracking his neck even as the mega zombie's head separated from its shoulders and crashed to the ground, soon followed by the rest of its huge body.

The girls stared as Ranma turned and walked back to them, a small smile on his lips. "Sorry girls. That seemed like a bit too much for you at your current level. Hopefully there aren't too many of those around." He waved them forward as he passed them. "Come on, I can see the sheriff's station."

The girls gave each other a look as they realized Ranma was far stronger than they'd realized before doing as he said, turning to follow.

A few minutes later they came across the corpse of a cop by a truck near the "Welcome to Kingsmouth" sign. Ranma frowned as he noticed a piece of paper beside him, picking it up and reading it quickly. He turned to the girls, who all looked somber. "Looks like this guy was out on a supply run for the survivors. They apparently really need ammo, which doesn't surprise me." He peered into the bed of the truck and pulled out an ammo box. "Grab a box so we don't arrive at the station empty handed. Might as well get in the locals' good graces."

The girls nodded as they each picked up one of the heavy ammo boxes in the truck, giving the fallen cop a sad yet respectful look as they continued on their way behind Ranma.

As they approached the station they saw that it had been barricaded, a chain link fence backed up by cars, wooden police barriers, and other debris keeping the refugees secure. They also saw several townies on the roof and the entrances, all armed with rifles, pistols and shotguns. A couple aimed their weapons at the team before realizing they were friendlies. When they saw the boxes of ammo in their hands, they visibly perked up.

"Oh man, you guys are life savers." A young man with a rifle and plaid shirt said as he took the box from Ranma.

Another one, slightly older than the first, took Chun Hei's and looked into her eyes with deep gratitude. "Marry me."

The Korean girl's face became bright red and she stuttered helplessly at that.

A woman in her thirties carrying a shotgun punched the man on the shoulder. "Knock it off, Mark. She's out of your league." She turned to Chun Hei even as she took Liz and Amanda's boxes. "Don't worry about him, he's a joker. I share the sentiment, though. Thank you so much." She said with a tired smile.

The girls all realized as they looked at the townies how tired and beaten down they looked. Much like with the reality of the zombies, it hadn't hit them how desperate the survivors' situation was. They were surrounded on all sides by monsters, fighting to keep them away with dwindling supplies. They were barely hanging on.

Amanda was the first to recover, smiling. "Of course. Happy to help. Let us know if there's anything else you need."

"First though." Ranma cut in. "Can you tell us where the sheriff is? We want to talk to her about what's going on and what we can do to best help."

The woman nodded as the other survivors took the ammo away. "Yeah, no problem. She's inside the station, helping coordinate things."

Ranma nodded and waved for the girls to follow him, passing by several more armed survivors before walking into the station proper.

Inside the first thing they saw was an overturned table set up as last ditch cover. In the corner near the jail cell several survivors were sleeping fitfully, most likely off guard shift. In the corner on the opposite end of the station a man in a doctor's coat was carefully suturing the cut on a wounded survivor. The sheriff was standing behind her desk, looking down at a map.

She was an older woman with greying shoulder length hair. Her eyes were bruised from exhaustion, stress lines all over her face adding to her apparent age. Still, she seemed to radiate subtle authority, her uniform clean, if slightly rumpled.

She looked up as they approached. "Heck if I know where you folks keep coming from." She said abruptly, eyeing them as they approached. "But anyone who walks through that door alive pretty much gets my amnesty. Something in your past colors you sourly to a badge, I'd ask you to call it quits in return. We agreeable?"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about in that regard from us." Ranma said, not noticing Amanda shifting slightly behind him.

"Well then, in that case, I'm Sheriff Bannerman. And this down-home little state of emergency is what's left of my jurisdiction." The now named Sheriff Bannerman said.

"Things haven't been going great, I take it?" Ranma asked rhetorically.

Bannerman shrugged. "You could say that. Oh sure, we tried to hold as much of the town as we could, at first. More out of nostalgia than any civil defense plan." She shook her head. "I won't tell you Kingsmouth was a slice of heaven in a snowglobe… but it was ours. Now it ain't."

"What actually happened, Sheriff?" Liz asked, curiously.

Bennerman shrugged again. "There was always something running under in this town, maybe what's spilled out now. If that's how it works, I couldn't say hand on heart we didn't have it coming." She sighed. "But that fog, and the things in it, they didn't pick and choose when they came in. Most folks didn't stand a chance." Then she eyed their weapons. "Now, I can see you're armed."

"Is that a problem?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bannerman shook her head. "Nah. Straight truth is you'll need to be. Just don't go thinking that means you're deputized or such. Heaven knows, if there was ever a time and a place for the right to bear 'em, you're looking at it." She rolled her eyes slightly. "Henry has his Word of God, that Roget woman has her crystal ball, and Norma out on the Point's got a twelve gauge." She chuckled lightly. "My money's on Norma."

Ranma chuckled as well. "Agreed." Then he looked around. "Anything you need help with?"

The Sheriff considered it. "Yeah, two things, if you're serious." At Ranma's nod she continued. "First off, we need to set up some way to get early warning of attacks. It'll let people relax a bit. I squirreled away what funds I could get from the council to get webcams and stuff. If you can pick some up from around town and get them set up, we'll be that much more prepared." Then she frowned. "Second thing's more important. At this rate we'll be outlasting our supplies, but not by much, if you get my meaning. I'd be obliged if you could poke around town, bring in the essentials." She smiled a bit grimly. "We can call it requisitioning. I don't think the store owners will be writing this one off as an Act of God."

"We'll get it done." Ranma said confidently. The girls smiled and nodded, which made Sheriff Bannerman brighten a bit.

The group moved away towards the door and huddled. "Alight girls, think you're up for working alone?"

The girls looked surprised by that. "W-what?!" Liz asked, a bit high pitched.

"If you girls stick together, I think you can handle any zombies that come up." Ranma said. "If you come across anything that's too much for you, you run like hell and come back." He looked at each of them. "One way or another, we'll meet up back here."

"Are you sure, Ranma?" Chun Hei asked hesitantly, Amanda looking less confident than usual.

He smiled and patted her shoulder. "You all already have decent teamwork. Besides, I'm going to give you a job appropriate to your skills. You'll do the security job. You won't have to range far into town, so you can stay in the area of the police station. After all, I'm sure there are plenty of places with security cameras, even in a place like this. Meanwhile, I'll do the supply run. It'll let me get a good idea of the layout of the town and what we might face, and I'll be faster on my own, especially as I'll probably have to range farther than you will."

The girls all looked at each other before turning to Ranma and nodding. "We won't let you down." Amanda said, back to her usual perky self.

"We'll need to figure out where to go to get what we need before we go, though." Liz pointed out.

"How about this?" Chun Hei asked as she picked up the phone book under the payphone that was next to her.

Ranma turned and smiled. "Looks local. Good work, Chun Hei. Alright girls, go through the book and identify the best places to hit. Then we'll head out."

"Yes sir." They chorused.

* * *

 _ **'Ello peeps.**_

 _ **I meant to have this out on Friday, but there were some issues with that. I got it done, though. Hope you all enjoyed it.**_

 ** _I want to dive into the characters' minds more, which I'll be starting in the next chapter when the girls go through Horror Show on their own._**

 ** _Yes, Ranma probably shouldn't have left them alone so soon, but this is something I hope makes it clear that while our favorite martial artist has grown up a bit, he's still a bit of a dumbass. He's never taught or led complete newbies like the girls, so he's overestimating things. That'll come back to bite him sooner or later._**

 ** _Also, some people might complain about Ranma using pistols. Partly that was because I wanted him to have one of each weapon type. Mainly, however, I see him as pragmatic enough after seven years in the Secret World to realize that a ranged option is a good idea. And I didn't think a shotgun was his style._**

 ** _This chapter was a bit slow otherwise, showing the girls getting used to combat and their first foray into this new world. Things will pick up as we go further, since we won't need to detail everything that happens to them, but at first it's a necessity._**

 ** _I've recently restarted playing the game myself. It's to my shame that I never even made it to the Orochi Tower, either in TSW or SWL. So I'm working my way to it now. I'm currently just starting The Shadowy Forest. Doesn't help that I'm a completionist when it comes to questing. I have to do every quest in a zone before I move on, even the Sabotage Missions, which I despise with a burning passion (I hate stealth gameplay)._**

 ** _If anybody wants to join me for dungeoning, let me know._**

 ** _Last thing is that I now have a Pat A Ron. It's Pat A Ron dot com /athanmortis, and if you become a patron you get to have a vote to choose one of the stories I work on each month. So if you want to see more of this, or, for example, On Swirling Ashes, donate a buck and let me know._**

 ** _I think that's everything. Leave me a review with your thoughts. Till next time._**


	6. Mission: Possible

Ranma sat on the roof of the Kingsmouth Firehouse, trying to see through the dense fog with the height he'd gained.

He'd gathered a large amount of supplies, more than a single person, even a Bee, would be able to. Anima enhanced Hidden Weapons space was very useful and versatile. Since his task was done he'd decided to do some recon. Unfortunately the fog worked against him, having thickened significantly since his team had arrived at the sheriff's station, to the point it was nearly impossible to see the other side of the street when on the sidewalk. The locals advised them that it was normal. For what passed as normality now, at least.

He hoped that the girls weren't having trouble. He was reconsidering the decision to let them go on their own so soon, but he was confident that as long as they only fought the zombies and ran from anything like the undead hulk he'd decapitated then they should be fine.

Looking back out over the town he could see a bit farther over the foggy streets, enough to see the wall out to sea.

A mile or so from the island's coast a literal wall of fog rose almost a mile high, swirling around the small island. It reminded Ranma of being in the eye of a hurricane, the relative calm while the storm surrounded you, knowing you were only safe momentarily before nature's fury crashed back down on you. Except nature didn't have anything to do with what was happening on Solomon Island.

Ranma sighed, not for the first time wondering what the people of his old life would think of his current one. Then he shook the thought off, because the answers he came up with always served to either irritate or depress him.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone began buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out he looked to see he'd received an email from one of his employees, Callie James. It came with an attachment that he knew was a report on the latest mission he'd sent the fifteen year old on.

' _Hey boss. I got the artifact you wanted. Had to dodge a couple of Phoenicians, but a creative application of fire distracted them long enough for me to get to Agartha. Thing's back in the usual location with John. Need anything else? And how's your experiment going?'_

Ranma smiled, pleased. He quickly responded, telling her he was glad she was okay and praising her good work as he usually did. Really, he was very glad he'd snatched her up before the Templars had.

He'd just sent the message off when the phone began to ring with a phone call. Looking at the caller ID he raised an eyebrow when he was met with the image of large amount of insects. Bees, obviously. He quickly answered, bringing the phone to his ear. He didn't bother with a greeting.

" _New recruits to your project?"_ The computerized voice of a text to speech program said as soon as he'd put the phone to his ear.

"Rookies." Ranma said with a smile. "No allegiances, no expectations. The factions basically gave me blank slates to guide."

A beat of silence as whoever was on the other end typed out a response. " _Will they be sympathetic to us?"_ The program asked.

Ranma considered that. "I think so. They seem to be good girls so far. When they find out about the Hive they probably won't be happy. I think we can count on their help." He became serious. "But you leave them to me. Don't try to contact them. Not until I give the okay."

Some more silence. " _We will wait. Then, we will test them."_

Ranma grunted, expecting nothing less. He and The Swarm may work together, but that was mainly him trying to keep them from going too far in their endeavors.

As the call ended the martial artist slumped slightly, rubbing his temple. He was juggling too many things. Back in Nerima all he worried about was surviving the day without getting his head cracked open by a rival or fiancee. Now he was a peacekeeper trying to keep the world from descending into chaos, involved in multiple conspiracies, doing things that would end up with him royally fucked if his superiors heard about them, and directing a large group of people under his command to do the same.

It still surprised him, even after years of thinking it, but… "Gods help me, I actually miss the days of the Wrecking Crew…"

* * *

Amanda grunted as she stood on the small handrail by the door to Kingsmouth Savings and Loan, removing the security camera mounted above it.. They'd already gotten the one sitting above the Sycoil gas station by clambering onto the roof. As the only one of the three with any in depth knowledge of electronics, it was up to her to remove them from their mounts as the other two kept a watch for any enemies.

After selecting their targets and grabbing one of the town maps Sheriff Bannerman had laying around, the three girls had headed out to gather the cameras while Ranma went off on his scavenging mission. The first obstacle that presented itself wasn't the zombies, but how thick the fog had gotten while they'd been inside with the sheriff. It couldn't be natural, but the townies had said it had happened several times since everything began. The main problem it brought was that the limited visibility kept them from knowing what enemies there were nearby.

The girls had quickly realized how true that was. Walking along Elm Street ("Seriously?" Liz had grumbled) they only had the noise the rushing zombies made to warn them of attacks. They'd had to move slowly and methodically, watching each other's backs, and even then they'd all received several wounds that Chun Hei had been forced to heal.

The busty Brit was pulled from her thoughts when she almost toppled from her perch and onto the Halloween decorations hanging from the neighboring business once the camera came free of its mount. She quickly hopped down to solid ground and put her prize in the bag Liz was carrying, making the blonde grunt as she kept her rifle up in case of an attack. "Where to now?"

"The Franklin Foundation Mining Museum." Chun Hei said as she studied the map in her hands. She looked up and pointed at a large building across the street. "It's right there."

Amanda picked up her hammer from where she'd left it against a wall. "Alright then, let's get this done so we can get back to the sheriff's station and relax till the boss gets back."

As the three began to walk Liz sighed. "I feel like I'm in a freaking Sam Krieg novel or something. Seriously, If you'd told me this morning I'd be killing zombies in New England, I'da stayed in bed."

"I just hope we can help the survivors. Maybe if we find out what caused this we can get it to stop." Amanda said.

Chun Hei didn't say anything, but her face revealed that she wasn't very hopeful.

When the three reached the mining museum's front entrance they practically tripped over a group of zombies devouring the body of an overweight older man. One of them looked up and spotted them, and with a rasping gurgle it stood up and rushed them, its companions following its lead.

Amanda immediately swung at the lead zombie's head, smashing it in. The thing didn't drop like a human would have to such damage, but it stumbled, which was enough time for Chun Hei to launch a spell that finished it off while Liz began to shoot the rest.

The three girls were quickly getting into the swing of fighting zombies. The corpses were predictable, and if you'd fought one then you'd fought them all. All three were surprised by how quickly it was becoming almost routine, but their growing combat capabilities and familiarity with each other made things much, much easier.

Once the final zombie fell the girls caught their breath. "Alright, where's the camera?" Liz asked, glancing around at the museum's doorway. Her attention was diverted when Chun Hei groaned and pointed upwards to the roof, where the camera sat high up alongside an American flag. "Oh great. Perfect."

"Guess we should look around for some way to make it up there." Amanda said, glancing around for a ladder or something to climb on top of.

Once again Chun Hei was the one to spot what they needed. "Over here." She said, directing the others to a tall ladder propped against the wall.

"Excellent." Amanda said with a grin, quickly climbing up it and making her way around the roof to where the camera was mounted. However, when she reached it she saw that the casing was cracked and it had a note attached to it. Picking the paper up she quickly read it over.

' _Josiah, this is the one that needs changing. Have it done before I'm back from Bangor. New cameras are in the basement. Remember to fill out the repair form and file it with the museum admins. -James Morris (FMM Janitor)'_

Amanda raised an eyebrow before dropping to the ground where the other two girls were waiting for her. "Why'd you leave the camera up there?" Liz asked.

"It's broken." The dark skinned girl responded, handing Liz the note. "Apparently they've got a bunch of brand new ones in the basement, though. We should probably just go and grab those before heading back. It'll give the survivors replacements, just in case."

Chun Hei nodded in agreement at the idea. "Yes, that sounds reasonable."

Liz grunted and nodded. "Let's get it done, then. I want to get back to the sheriff's office and take a breather." She promptly walked into the museum, rifle up in case of any trouble, the other two quickly following after her.

The inside of the museum wasn't much to look at. There was a display in the middle of the room with a diorama of the inside of a mine, and the walls had large pictures displaying miners and mining equipment. The stairs leading to the second floor were obstructed by a hastily put together barricade. "Riveting." Liz said drily as she looked around.

Chun Hei moved over to the blocked stairs. "Hello? Is there anybody there?" No noise was heard from the second floor. "Hello? We're here to help you. We can take you to the sheriff's station." Yet again, only silence answered her, and she sighed.

"Guess there's nobody up there." Amanda said.

Liz opened the door to the basement, aiming her rifle below, gratified that the basement was both well illuminated and clear of zombies. "Looks like we won't have any trouble down here." Amanda turned to stare at Liz, making the blonde uncomfortable. "What?"

"I can't believe you tempted fate like that…" Amanda said slowly.

Liz scowled. "Oh come on, that only happens in shitty fiction."

Amanda raised an eyebrow, glancing at Chun Hei who looked back, confused, before sighing and moving to the basement stairs, hefting her hammer. "If we explode or something, I'm blaming you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Liz grumbled, letting the melee fighter go first, Chun Hei bringing up the rear as usual.

As the girls were reaching the bottom of the stairs Amanda was the first to notice the basement's other occupant. "Hey, I think that's the janitor." She said, pointing at the other end of the hallway they were in, where a black man was kneeling, his head down. "Maybe we can ask him where the cameras are."

As the girls all approached Chun Hei suddenly gasped, flinging her arm out to stop the others. "I do not think he is well."

"Wha?" Liz uttered, before she spotted what Chun Hei was referring to.

The man wasn't dark skinned like they'd first thought. His skin was unnaturally black, like crude oil had been slathered all over it. Most disturbingly was movement coming from what they'd thought was hair but was actually tentacles of the same oily substance.

"Filth." Amanda whispered, remembering what she'd seen in her dream.

The janitor looked up at them, eyes glowing yellow. "I think you should go away… You should go away now!" He said, his voice distorted as he began to stand. "You need to go away because I'm not feeling very stable right now!" Then, rather than attack them like they were halfway expecting, he ran away around the corner and out of sight, moving jerkily and unnaturally.

The girls were silent for a moment, getting over what they saw. "That…" Liz began. "That looks like what's affecting Tokyo…"

Chun Hei turned to the blonde, surprised. "How did you know about that?"

"I saw it in this weird dream, or vision, or whatever, when I was first recruited. They put me in hypnosis, or something." Liz said, still shaken.

"Really? Did it involve a group of Bees fighting through a subway in Tokyo?" Amanda asked, surprised. When Liz nodded she tilted her head. "Huh. Same here. I passed out listening to a 'prophet' in London, and I saw that too." The two girls turned to the Korean of the group expectantly.

Chun Hei blushed, for several reasons. "Something similar happened to me. I saw from the point of view of a girl called Sarah…"

Liz scratched her head before setting that aside. "Alright, so how did the Filth, whatever the fuck it actually is, get to Kingsmouth? Is that what's causing everything?"

The other two were silent, pondering the question. "We need to tell Ranma." Chun Hei finally said, wanting to pass the buck to somebody more qualified.

Amanda nodded in agreement, pulling out her phone. She paused before groaning. "Fuck, we never got each others' numbers, did we?"

Liz groaned as well before shaking her head in annoyance. "Whatever, we'll see him soon enough. We'll correct that oversight then. Let's get this dealt with and see if we can do anything about the janitor." The others nodded in agreement, prompting the girls to follow after the Filthy man.

Amanda was turning the corner, hammer held up in case of any attacks, but jerked to a stop when Chun Hei screeched "Stop!"

Liz turned to her companion, wincing. "Chun Hei, what the hell?"

Chun Hei was shaking, staring at Amanda. "Don't… move…" She whispered.

Amanda swallowed, not reassured by the way the asian girl was acting. "Chun Hei, what's wrong?"

"Look down." Was the response, prompting the black girl to do so, seeing that her foot was… inches away from a motion sensing laser!?

Amanda stared. "Um, maybe it's for an alarm?"

"I don't think so." Liz said, just as shakily, pointing at a block of material attached high up on the wall.

Amanda stared harder, a bead of sweat trailing down her face. Slowly, very slowly indeed, she slid her foot away from the laser. "Is that fucking plastic explosive?"

"I think so…" Liz said, eyes wide as she looked around the basement. "And it isn't the only block, either."

The other two looked around as well, seeing several more blocks plastered around on the walls and even the ceiling. Chun Hei looked back and saw several bundles back the way they'd come which they hadn't paid any attention to before. "By the gods…" She said softly.

"What in all the actual fuck?" Liz said as she finally got over her shock. "How the hell did this guy get his hands on so much of the stuff, not to mention rig it all with motion sensors? I mean, why the hell would a museum have enough explosives to level a New York City skyscraper?"

Amanda licked suddenly dry lips. "I don't know, but we're going to have to be very, very careful going further in."

Chun Hei was shaking. "Shouldn't we just leave? Can we not get cameras somewhere else?"

"This isn't about cameras." Amanda said seriously. "If we all saw the same vision, then we all know how dangerous the Filth is. We can't let this guy go around spreading it, maybe infecting other people. And we need to find out how he got infected so we can stop it. Or at least so we can tell Ranma."

The other two hesitated before Liz growled. "Fuck it, you're right. We need to at least put the poor bastard down."

Chun Hei thought a bit longer before nodding. "Y-yes, you're right."

Amanda nodded, reassured that they were agreeing with her. Because a very vocal part of her _really_ wanted to just turn around and leave. "Alright, be very, very careful." Then she turned back around and gingerly stepped over the motion sensor.

The three girls made their way forward through the hallways of the basement, avoiding more motion sensors. Before long, however, they found a literal wall of motion sensing lasers blocking their path about a third of the way through the hall which none of them could possibly get through. "Now what do we do?" Liz growled.

Chun Hei peered into a large storage room off to the side, spotting what looked like a control panel through a gap in some shelves that blocked the way. "I think we might be able to turn it off with that…"

Liz and Amanda glanced over as well. "Worth a shot." The American of the group said. She threw her rifle over her shoulder and got ready to climb over the shelves to reach it when Amanda grabbed her shirt, stopping her. "What now?" She growled.

Amanda pointed at a camera mounted against the far wall, watching the area, not seeing them due to some items in the way. "What do you want to bet, with the way things are going, that the camera is linked to the explosives too?"

All three considered it before Liz sighed. "Better not risk it, then. What do we do, though?"

"I don't know. Chun Hei?" Amanda asked, turning only to blink as she saw the slim girl begin hugging the wall, going around the side opposite of where they needed to go.

"What is she doing?" Liz hissed.

Chun Hei moved slowly, hugging the wall the entire time, her form shaking with fear and her gaze locked on the camera. She circled the room at an agonizing pace, and her companions held their breath as she slowly moved underneath the camera, out of its field of view. Finally, with shaking legs, Chun Hei reached the control panel. Tapping on it Amanda and Liz saw the wall of motion sensors deactivate and both sighed in relief.

Amanda glanced at the camera and smiled, seeing that the light that indicated it was powered up was dark. "Chun Hei, the camera's off. You don't have to sneak around to come back."

Chun Hei quickly jogged around the shelves before dropping to her knees in front of the others, panting harshly and shaking like a newborn deer. "That was scary." She whimpered.

Amanda patted the girl's shoulder reassuringly. "You did good." She said. "Hopefully there isn't anything else in our way."

Chun Hei nodded before standing up, having recovered her strength. She then followed the other girls as they continued on.

Soon enough they reached the end of the hallway. They could see the janitor standing in the shadows, swaying lightly, the tentacles of filth coming out of his head writhing about. He looked up at them with glowing red eyes before launching himself at them with a screech.

Both Liz and Chun Hei immediately attacked, bullets and magic slamming into the man as Amanda set her feet, ready to swing. The janitor was surprisingly resilient, managing to power through the girls' attacks till he was close enough for the hacker to swing her hammer at his head. He staggered, but didn't go down even as he was continuously pummeled with attacks. So Amanda swung again, and then again, keeping the filth infected man out of attack range. Finally he had enough, whatever supernatural durability he had being overwhelmed, and he dropped to the ground with a final, rattling gasp.

The girls lowered their weapons when the fight ended, catching their breaths. None of them noticed anything amiss at first, however Liz glanced at the man's body in time to see the filth covering it begin to swell. Her eyes widened. "Get back!" She stumbled away from the body, the other two following her lead just in time, as there was a burst of filth that emanated from the body, covering the ground around it in a radius of a few feet.

The girls stared, wary in case of any more nasty surprises. After thirty seconds of nothing happening they once again relaxed, glancing at each other and holstering their weapons. "Did the ones in Tokyo do that?" Amanda asked, confused.

"Maybe? I don't remember. The entire thing was pretty hectic." Liz said, Chun Hei nodding in agreement.

Stepping around the pool of filth, Amanda made her way to the shelves that the janitor had been standing beside. A box with an Anansi logo sat there, and when she peered into it she saw security cameras sealed carefully in plastic. "Bingo." She pulled the box off the shelf. "Alright, got what we came for."

Liz was snapping pictures of the janitor with her phone to show to Ranma and send to her superiors. "Good. Least we got something out of this little detour…"

"I think I found how this man was infected." Chun Hei said from where she stood over a cardboard box that was sitting on the floor in the corner. The other two approached her, seeing a large rock sitting in the box, filth tentacles lashing at the air from cracks in its surface.

"Yeah, I'd say this was what got him." Liz said, snapping a picture of the rock.

"Alright, we got what we came for." Amanda said as she hefted the box of cameras. "Let's get back to the sheriff's station and get this all set up."

The other two agreed, and they then proceeded to leave the Mining Museum basement, thankful that all the lasers had been turned off.

* * *

A half hour later the girls were drinking some Bingo! Cola as they rested beside the sheriff station's lone cell. The security cameras were up and running, Liz and Chun Hei setting them up while Amanda prepared the software. Before too long the defenders had advanced warning of zombie attacks coming from all directions, much to Sheriff Bannerman's happiness.

Liz closed her eyes as she tried to relax, doing her best to ignore the gunfire coming from outside as the defenders held off the zombies. She was trying to gather her thoughts, having not had much of an opportunity to do so since they'd arrived in Kingsmouth. Her life had gone completely insane within the span of a week, and she was still trying to come to terms with it.

She looked over at Amanda, who was fiddling with her phone. She remembered that the Brit had said she was a hacker, which meant she was probably doing something esoteric to the device which Liz wouldn't be able to even begin to comprehend.

Chun Hei was dozing lightly, having been awake longer than the other girls due to the effect of time zones. That plus the many shocks to the system she'd received recently made her exhausted.

The blonde looked back over at the other conscious member of their party. "What do you think we'll be doing next, Amanda?"

Amanda looked up from where she was fiddling with her phone before putting on a thoughtful face. "Well, I'd say that we'll start investigating the town to figure out what's going on once Ranma gets back. The survivors will have supplies and early warning then, so they should be able to hold out long enough for us to find out what's causing this and how to stop it. They should be safe once we do that." The dark skinned girl pocketed her phone and got up, picking up her hammer and cracking her neck. "I'm going outside to see if there's anything I can help out with."

Liz sighed. "Guess I should come with you, then…"

Amanda waved her off. "Nah, you stay here and rest a bit. I'll come get you if I need help." Putting her weapon on the holster on her back, she then proceeded to walk out of the sheriff's station.

The fog was still thick, though not as much as it had been before. As she looked around she saw grim, tired people holding weapons, ready to fight off any attackers. Hopelessness shone in the faces, and the young hacker felt her heart ache for them all.

Deciding to see if the people keeping watch on the roof needed anything, Amanda headed for the stairs that wrapped around a corner of the station leading up. As she was climbing she spotted something she hadn't been expecting.

Behind the building, in the empty space between the station and the chain link fence, sat an anima well. As golden light spilled out of the ground, green grass and other vegetation growing from cracks in the cement, the rookie Bee felt rejuvenated just by being near it. She wondered what it would be like to actually step into it, but decided to put of finding out for the moment and continue with what she was doing. Though she did make sure to make a mental note of the location in case it became necessary later.

Reaching the roof she saw four survivors in various places along the edge, three of them holding rifles in order to snipe any attackers, which was easier said than done considering the fog's thickness. The last man wore a deputy's uniform and stood on the corner of the roof that hung over the station's entrance, a cheap plastic chair with a rifle propped up against it beside him. Around him he had boxes of ammunition and food, meaning that he was in charge of keeping the snipers supplied. Deciding that he was the best person to talk to, Amanda quickly approached.

The man jumped when she tapped him on the shoulder with a friendly hello, whirling around. "Geez, ya spooked me! And I figured I was fresh outta scares." He was a somewhat plain man, slightly on the right side of attractive, with an open, expressive face that needed a shave, and slightly tousled brown hair. He blinked when he saw her. "Ain't seen you around before."

"I'm Amanda." She said, shaking his hand. "I'm here to investigate what's happening and hopefully put an end to it."

"Andy." he said with a smile. "I mean, Deputy Gardener."

"Nice to meet you, deputy." She said cheerfully.

"Likewise. I sure hope you can do something about this." Andy said before turning back to look over the town as the fog lifted a bit more. "Geez, you never saw anything like this in the cop shows." He paused in thought for a moment. "Well, maybe on cable. Not the network ones." Then he sighed, looking pained. "You wouldn't know it from looking out there, but before that wicked bad fog rolled in, Kingsmouth was a sleepy little burg."

"I would imagine so…" Amanda said softly, sad at seeing the obvious love the man had for his devastated town.

"Nothing stronger on the streets than a hot cup of coffee and chocolate glazed donuts from Susie's." He said with a small, nostalgic smile. "The occasional DUI or domestic disturbance." He said with a shrug. "Human sacrifice…" Came next in almost a mutter.

Amanda blinked. "...Wot?"

"But every town has a dark side, right?" Andy continued with a somber smile and another shrug, apparently not noticing how weirded out Amanda suddenly was. "We sure are are getting a heaped helping of darkness now, ayuh?" The Maine accent was very appropriate on him, Amanda thought, getting over his previous comment. "Walking dead, and worse besides, takin over our town. Us survivors holed up in here hoping it's all just a bad dream and we will wake up to the smell of bacon and maple syrup." He sighed and turned from seeing a zombie get gunned down as it rushed the opening in the survivors' barricade to look at her, eyes sad and despairing. "But unless someone ups and does something, and soon, all we're gonna wake up to is the smell of rotten flesh…" He looked back out over the town, voice displaying his sadness. "...And I don't need another thing to remind me of my dad." He ran a hand through his hair. "Halloween does bring back the memories, ayuh…"

Amanda patted Andy's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll stop whatever is causing this…" Then she walked away as he murmured his thanks, maintaining his vigil.

Lost in thought as she walked back to the stairs leading below, movement caught Amanda's eye. A couple of zombies were bashing at the fence near the anima well, trying to get in but not having any success. She stared at them for a moment before her shoulders straightened. She knew what she needed to do.

Walking back into the station her gaze turned to Liz and a now conscious Chun Hei, who were eating some granola bars. Quickly moving over to them she clapped her hands. "Alright girls, finish up your meals. We need to go out and kill some zombies."

Liz looked up, swallowing her mouthful of food. "There a problem the locals can't solve?"

Amanda shook her head. "I just think we should lighten the load. They've been fighting non-stop, and they're normal people. We have superpowers, so we might as well make things easier on them." She shrugged. "Besides, what else do we have to do till Ranma gets back?"

The other two glanced at each other thoughtfully before Chun Hei nodded slowly. "Alright." Liz said, shoving the last of the granola bar into her mouth before standing up and grabbing her rifle. "Let's get this done, then."

Once Chun Hei did the same, all three walked out of the station and passed the barricaded fences. Then they began killing the zombies banging against said barricades.

The survivors, in an effort to preserve precious ammunition, were letting the zombies that didn't head directly for the entrances ineffectually attack the barricade as long as they were too few in number to actually inflict much, if any, damage. That didn't mean, however, that some of the undead didn't sometimes wander off to attack said entrances, so there was some risk in leaving them alone.

The girls, however, didn't need to worry about conserving ammunition, so they went on a killing spree, bringing the zombie population down to more manageable levels.

It was as they were killing the last of the zombies by the road that had led the Bees to the station from Agartha that sirens began to ring, making them all look up in some surprise. "We've got trouble coming from the north side!" One of the sheriff's deputies said over the PA, her voice tense.

"I suppose this is the effect of having cameras to give early warning." Chun Hei said as the three hurried to where the attack was coming from. They reached the large grassy area between the station and the nearest house in time to see another deputy and a civilian fire at an approaching mass of undead, intending to hold them off with the assistance of the snipers on the roof.

Amanda rushed in, swinging her hammer with all her might at the closest zombie, decapitating it and making it crumple as Liz stood back and began to fire into the mass of dead flesh, Chun Hei joining the attack as well but focusing more on keeping everybody stable.

The fight was chaotic, especially for Amanda, who was in the thick of it. She was the stone the zombies broke upon, keeping the Kingsmouth survivors from being overwhelmed even as they supported her with their firearms, which were a semi-auto rifle and a shotgun.

As the last zombie succumbed to one of Chun Hei's spells Liz wiped her forehead of the sweat that had accumulated on it. "Whew. Well, that's handled." She groaned when the siren rang again with the announcement that the southern barricade was now the one being threatened. "I had to say it, didn't I?"

Chun Hei sighed tiredly. "It seems so." The three girls quickly hurried to the southern barricade which faced Elm Street and thus the coast of the island. They had a few moments to catch their breaths before half a dozen zombies ran up the street to attack.

The group once again fought the attackers off, showing how much their teamwork had improved in a short time, and how used they were becoming to fighting zombies. However, when the last zombie fell another group appeared from out of the fog, starting the fight all over again.

"Goddammit!" Liz growled the third time that happened. "Where the fuck are they coming from? And why does this shit seem almost coordinated?"

"I don't know." Amanda grunted after smashing the head of a fallen zombie to pulp. "But we need to find out." She turned to one of the locals. "Stay here and keep guard. We're going to find out what's going on."

"Alright ma'am." The deputy said. "Be careful out there." Amanda smiled and nodded before leading her team down Elm Street.

Halfway down the street another group of zombies attacked them, this one thankfully a bit smaller and more manageable, letting the three Bees beat them quickly and continue on their way. They stopped in their tracks, however, when they reached the corner of Elm and Belmont.

Standing between the Mining Museum and the Sycoil station, with three zombies roaming aimlessly around it, was a huge monster. It stood twice as tall as a normal man, and it was covered with what seemed to be a dark blue and pink mix between chitin and coral, red seaweed clinging to its form. On its shoulders rose spikes of the coral like substance from which more seaweed hung. What appeared to be its head was just more of the substance in the vague shape of one, its actual skull like face resting in its chest, a tentacle wriggling from one of its eye sockets.

What drew the most attention, however, was its enormous, lobster like claws that were attached to large, muscular arms. They were big enough that the girls didn't doubt it would be able to shear one of the zombies wandering around in half with ease. From underneath one of its armpits what seemed to be a more normal looking, human arm emerged, looking dead and decayed, like a corpse that had been in the water too long.

"What the _fuck_ is that?" Liz asked, wide eyed.

Amanda lifted her phone with a slightly shaky hand, taking a picture to document the monster and do a search on it later. "I have no idea, but I think it's what's sending the zombies to the station."

"That means we have to kill it." Chun Hei whimpered, hands shaking with fear.

Amanda swallowed. "Alright, I'm going to draw the thing's attention. You two take out the zombies first so they don't overwhelm us, then help me kill it."

Liz let out a long breath. "Alright." She gripped her rifle tightly before bringing it up, aiming at the closest zombie. "Ready."

Amanda gave herself a shake before quickly rushing at the enemy with a battle cry on her lips. The huge monster turned and looked at her before letting out a roar, the zombies immediately moving to attack. Liz and Chun Hei began their own assault at that moment, drawing the zombies' attention while Amanda swung her hammer at her target, hitting the armor on one of its claws which it had brought up to block her. It growled at her, but the Templar growled back and moved away as it swung at her. Thus began a dance of attacks and counter attacks between them while the other girls dealt with the zombies.

Without Amanda helping them by drawing the zombies' attention, Liz and Chun Hei had to be much more careful. The Korean girl kept backpedaling away from the attacks as she frantically launched blood magic at her foes, trying to take them down as quickly as possible. Liz, for her part, fired a barrage into the head of a zombie five feet away from her on full auto, turning her target into so much unattached meat.

Chun Hei managed to bring down one of the zombies, smiling at her accomplishment, but continuing to avoid the last zombie, which was also attacking her. Unfortunately she didn't pay attention to where she was dodging to.

"Chun Hei, look out!" She heard Amanda scream behind her, and she turned around only to let out a shriek of fear and surprise as one of the massive claws clamped around her belly, the monster lifting her up with its prodigious strength.

"Let her go, you son of a bitch!" Amanda roared as she slammed her hammer into the thing's chest over and over, staggering it. Liz, who had been caught off guard, was just raising her rifle back up to join in the assault when Chun Hei let out a cry of agony as the sharp pincer holding her snapped shut, separating her torso from her lower body in a shower of gore, both halves of the girl falling to the floor with a thud.

Liz shrieked with rage and started firing at the monster's face, not stopping even when she felt the weapon begin to heat up. The abomination roared and brought up a pincer to protect itself, the other moving to grab Amanda, who had frozen in place in horror. However, just as it was about to do so, a black and white blur slammed into it, sending it flying several feet into the gas station.

Ranma stood in the place the monster had, hands glowing with energy and eyes narrowed wrathfully, stormy blue eyes practically glowing with power. Liz and Amanda only had time to note that much before he launched himself back at his opponent.

Seeing that Ranma had things in hand, Liz and Amanda rushed over to Chun Hei. She was struggling to breath, eyes wide and afraid as she looked up at the sky, tears falling down her cheeks. A mass of gore had spilled out of her, her intestines strewn across the ground, blood pooling underneath her.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Amanda repeated, horror and fear coursing through her as she took in her teammate's state.

Liz hurriedly kneeled beside Chun Hei's head. "Chun Hei, sweety, we're here, ok? Ranma showed up." She gently caressed the other girl's soft cheek, brushing her dark hair away from her face. "He'll…" He breath hitched as she began to cry. "He'll know what to do, okay? Just hang in there." Her voice cracked at the end as Amanda joined her at Chun Hei's other side, grabbing the girl's hand and squeezing it tightly.

Chun Hei tried to speak, but couldn't seem to manage it, choking on blood that spilled out of her mouth. Her eyes sought the other two's, desperate for reassurance. "I…" She finally managed. "I'm scared…"

Liz almost broke down completely. "I know, honey. I know. But you're going to be fine. You'll see."

None of the girls heard the monster's death cry as it fell to the ground with an earth shaking crash. None of them cared. Chun Hei let out one final, bloody sob, before she stopped breathing and her eyes became unseeing.

Amanda wept, her tears landing on the dead girl's face, which was still a rictus of fear and pain. She only looked up when Ranma rested his hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. We need to leave."

Liz looked up at him as well, and a spark of anger appeared in her eyes. "What the fuck? You want to just… just leave her here? Don't you fucking give a damn?"

Ranma simply pointed down at the body, and the others looked down at it, jumping back in surprise when they saw it begin to disappear into motes of golden light. "Come on, we need to hurry." He began to run up Elm Street, shifting to female form for more speed.

Her subordinates didn't understand what was going on, but they quickly got up and hurried after their boss. When they reached the sheriff's station they saw Ranma jump over the barricade rather than go around to the entrance, something neither of the two could do, so they had to take the long way around.

Once passed the barricade they saw Ranma's kung fu pant covered leg disappear around the corner under the stairs. They hurried after her only to find her standing in front of the anima well that Amanda had noticed before. They were about to ask her what she was doing when she pointed at the well. The two looked at what she was pointing at only for their breaths to catch.

In the middle of the well the golden light that continuously spilled from it began to coalesce, taking the shape of a female human body. Then there was a small flash of light, and Chun Hei lay on the grassy ground, eyes closed, but breathing gently. She looked completely fine, and even had the clothes she'd been wearing when she died on. Then her eyes snapped open, and she sat up, looking around in fear, eyes darting around before they latched onto the others.

Her eyes began to tear up and Ranma quickly knelt in front of her her, wrapping her arms around the traumatized ravenette, who began to cry in the redhead's embrace.

"Shh…" Ranma said soothing. "It's okay, Chun Hei. It's okay. You're alright now, and that thing can't hurt you anymore. Let it out."

Chun Hei didn't need further encouragement, and she clutched at Ranma's silk shirt, great, wracking sobs ripping through her body.

Liz and Amanda could only watch, relief warring with disbelief in their hearts. Then Amanda slowly approached and knelt down, wrapping her arms around the two, offering and taking her own comfort as well. After a moment's hesitation Liz did the same, and all four sat in the anima well for a long time as Chun Hei cried.

* * *

 _ **Sheesh. Been a while, huh?**_

 _ **I actually meant to have this out weeks ago, but there have been some developments at work that have caused issues. People quitting, people getting fired, shift changes… And the future won't be much better in terms of writing. I'll probably only be able to get the next chapter of Survival of the Fittest?, the Pat A Ron poll winner, out next week (hopefully) before stopping for the month due to having new training I have to do.**_

 _ **In any case, It's late, but It's longer than my chapters normally are, so I hope that makes up for it.**_

 _ **I don't really have much to say. I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget you get a say in what I update if you donate to my Pat A Ron at dotcom /athanmortis.**_

 _ **Please review. See you next time!**_


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